The Yale expositor., 1912-09-05
The Soil and It's Preparation.

When fall plowed, the sod will partly
decay by spring and there will be an
opportunity to work the soil several
times with both disk and harrow be
fore planting, which is very important
1t han been demonstrated many times
that much better crops can be pro
dfEced upon a soil that has had extra
working than when II has not been Civ.
en-
Always avoid low fields where the
FROST may destroy the plants early in
Shc fall before the growth has been
completed.
The Seed.
Whole tuDers about the size OF a
lasHES egg are very satisfactory for
sesd. especially so In a dry season.
If s1zch seed is not available use cut
lpfeces about the size of hens egg
and hleEe at least two good eyes on
every piece. Larger seed pieces may
give q large yield but not enough to
nay FOR the extra amount of seed re-
vlUlrsad, especially IL 1t is expensive"
X any OF the seed Is "scabby" even
10 a very slight degree, it should be
created by soaking for two hours in a
solution made up In the proportions
asf one pint OF formalin to thirty gal
AoR5 water. F'ormalin can be procured
from any druggist. Do this shortly
before planting and before the seed is
GEt- DO not put the treated seed back
HHto crates or bags that held the tu-
5srs before treatment, unless the
crates are washed and the bags soaked
I'm the solution. The scab disease may
1--WE IN the soil for some years. so do
gn1t plant upon land that recently grew
sSc2kshy potatoes or beets If 1t can be
Ryvsii6Ad
Fertilizers.
The nest fertilizer for the potato
crop is undoubtedly stable manure
.spEsa6 upon a clover sod before plow-
1nS 5n the fall. If spring plowed,
spread the manure on during the win
Ter or early spring. The plowed-un-
sI3er clover will in itself make a good
sserfitiner.
~ il is desired to use a chemical
FERTILIZER, our experiments made DUR
eng the past few years indicate that
home mixed" fertilizer containing
per cent nitrogen, per cent phosphor-
Sc acid, and 1913 per cent potash used
at the rate OF 500 pounds per acre is
The most satisfactory. A ton of this
fertilizer is made by mixing:
1913 pounds nitrate OF soda containing
155 per cent nitrogen.
357 pounds dried blood containing IA
per cent nitrogen
1000, pounds phosphoric acid contain
ing Ia per cent nitrogen.
$50 pounds sulphate Of potash con-
tanning AZ per cent nitrogen.
5000 pounds "home mixed" potato fer
tilizer.
IL should not be overlooked that the
fraIue of n chemical fertilizer depends
largely upon the physical condition of
Ehc soil, the moisture content as we'll
AS proper drainage and cultivation
Even very heavy applications of fer
;dhzers will not make up for the lack
Fof any Of these conditions nor will the
rIse of any kind OF chemical fertilizer
aake the place of the humus or de-
E1yed matter in the soil.
Planting.
When the planting is done by hand.
burrows may be opened with team and
soZe horse pillow and IL any chemical
fertilizer is to be used it can be spread
Ga the furrow by hand. On light or
loose soils it is desirable to plant the
seed about four to six inches deep. II
shallow planted some OF the potatoes
Cd
YKhe seed pieces are dropped the dis
rzaDGe desired, covered with hoe, and
the whole field smoothed over with
loaFrow
II would be profitable to use ma
chino planters upon large acreages
lover ten acres) and with these a ter
-ciii2eT attachment is often used to dis
tribute the fertilizer. If the planter
rs not equipped with such an attach
'1Ient the fertilizer may be drilled in
'&ith an ordinary drill before the field
us planted. or can be spread by hand.
The distance for planting depends
upon che fertility Of the soil. but rows
three feet apart and from 18 to "a
inches in the row has given good re-
suits on an average soil With inten-
@ive cultivation and rich soil, they
may be planted as close as one foot
1M che rows.
Cultivation.
Frequent cultivation will greatly
a7elp TO produce good crop and keep
she field free from weeds A spike
1Doth harrow is usually used once or
Gwice before the plants come up and
again just as they appear. A weeder
IS often used at this time and
about once a week afterward until the
plants are several inches high. Dur
1ng this time IL may be advisable to go
over tho field once or twice with a
~g-gItivator. After the plants are five
or six inches high cultivate about once
Il week or every ten days until there
rs danger OF injury 20 the vines.
Spraying.
FUtato plants are sprayed with Dor