The Mobridge news. [volume] (Mobridge, Walworth Co., S.D.) 190?-1917, 1913-09-05
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Irrigated VS.. Dry Land
Potatoes for Seed.
BY E. G. SCHOLLANDER, Su.
perintendent Wiliston IN.
D. Substation.

i + y = + = = 4 i. i. \ i. 4 i. i. + !.
Whether irrigated potatoes are as
good for seed as dry land grown tu-
bers is debatable question at pres
ent. The opinion of many potato
growers is that they are inferior in
vitality and quality. In many irrigat-
ed districts dry land grown seed is
imported every year for planting, as
1T is claimed the yields of tubers will
be larger.
During the fall of 1908 this question
arose in the Williston On. d. dis.
trict that being the first fall that ir-
rigated potatoes were offered on the
market, and in many instances they
were refused, even for immediate
household use.
To obtain some definite data along
this line both irrigated and dry land
grown potatoes were saved for seed
for the following year. The writer
found no perceptible difference in the
keeping quality over winter.
The two selections of seed were
planted in the spring of 1909. One
row of each selection was planted and
cared for under dry farming methods
and one row of each selection was
planted and grown under irrigation.
Attention is called to the fact that
same physical condition as the irri-
gated land, so naturally no direct
comparison can be made with each
other. The idea was only to grow ir-
rigated seed and dry land grown seed
side by side and to note the differ
enCe, if any. Having the opportunity
Of growing one series under irriga-
tiCn and one under dry farming meth
DDS really produced double the data
each year. This experiment was
duplicated in 1910 and again in 1912.
Unfortunately for the experiment the
precipitation was so great during the
growing season of 1912 that no irri-
cation was attempted and the ex-
pertinent cannot be continued in 1913.
To note whether dry farmed seed
would produce a crop having a hign-
er per cent Of starch content than
could be produced from irrigated seed
a chemical analysis was made each
year. In 1909 and 1910 the analyses
were made by the United States De-
partment of Agriculture and in 1912
by the chemical department of the
North Dakota Experiment Station.
From the experiments conducted SO
far there does not appear to be any
marked difference in yield between
the products from irrigated and dry
land grown seed. The irrigated seed
has a slight advantage in yield for an
average of three years. In five tests
out of six irrigated seed has produced
an average Of 1872 bushels more per
acre than dry land grown seed. In
three tests out of six irrigated seed
welded an average of 1873 bushels
more per acre than dry land grown
seed while in one case there was no
difference in yield. 1t can be readily
seen that q small advantage in yield
was obtained from using Irrigated seed.
In starch percentage in four tests
out of six dry land grown seed pro-
duced a crop having a slightly larger
starch content, or an average or 80
of | per cent more starch for the to-
tai average of the three seasons.
Now, if the irrigated products are
compared with the dry land grown
products irrespective of the source
of seed, for the years 1909 and 1910.
il will be noted with surprise that
the irrigated seed products taken col
lectively and averaged for the two
wears has a starch content of IL OF
per cent greater than the dry land
grown products.
On the whole when the yields and
starch contents are taken into con-
sideration in this test the results IA
vor the irrigated potatoes for seed.
More data is necessary on this sub
iect before any strong conclusions
are formed. but no alarming indica-
tions were found in this trial from
using irrigated potatoes for seed,
when they had been judiciously wa
tered. Irrigated potatoes were not
found to be inferior in cooking quail
ity or in keeping quality, as COM
pared with dry land grown potatoes
when carefully handled during the