The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1914-03-25
SEED POTATOES.

This Is the season OF the wear = hen
the farmer SHOULD paw particular At
tention TO seed potatoes. cautions the
department of sEricuiture. and tho
use Of high grade Sad would increases
the returns from tho potato crop IT
the country hy neanv millions Of dol
lars. \ CONSERVATIVES estimate Of the
increase that might hA axrected from
ths use of h~igh-srade sfel is carrsln-
~ net less than In per cent. such
ar increase based ON -ha average PRO
duetion of tlle past FIVE Nsars would
amount TO over 3..non.onn huehels.
having sn a%rproxtjnata yalue of s91.-
QUO .n0h. OF the tuanv causas ph,.i,
operate no produce 2 lnH average pa.
tato yield in this ountr~ pane sod
is an important nne. The American
rotato grower pavs too )ittlA attention
10 his seed potatoes.
The European csc esoeo.ally
those Of Great Eritain AMI Germany.
pay Very stricr attention 10 the uuellt"
and quantity IF seed thev usa Tins
has led 80 the differentiation Of the
potato industry into seed and crop
specialists. The sees specialist makes
a business Of producing high -uuaiitv
esed. while the cror srecia1ist produces
? h~iEh-grads table potatc ~" such
differentiation. at least 70 the caNpe ex-
tent. occurs in this -curtr- While
II is true that In ~certain eectio1- there
i a w~ell-developsd seed potato crow
ins industry. hut oornrsrat,velv few
awe In these sactions are raIin=
sufficient attention. tn the elimination
- diseased and ~unprodurtive strains.
or to ksepinE the varietS grown free
fr,rn mixture with other varieties.
Ey far the simplest and riost prom
lElns means of dsvelop,rs hlsia-grads
iced potatoes is that of the tuher-uuit
ind hill selection methods. The FOR
the consists in selecting from the .eetl
hin before planting time :. consider
able number of The most perfectlv
chapel tuherE of from Is tn 2 ounces
in weight. When planted these tuhers
are Quartered. as dropped. into four
AZ nearly equal parts as possible. This
~ lone by splitting the i,,ld-eye elus.
Ter i'm eacl, direction from, seed t.,
-'srl end of the tuher. The four
rieces of each tuher are dropned on
secutivslv in the row at =. distance of
from 10 to i" inches arart in the tur-
row. All tuhers chewing di~acoloralior
~ the flesh or other evidence If dis.
case should he rejected.
BY allowing an additional space be
tween each set nf fnurs. the -Four rlants
from each tMher are definitely ~lsolat-
ed from ADJOINING onas. and the crow
81 can readily observe am variation
In viscr and uniformity between t1le
units planted. This method a1so en-
ahles him to detect any %rrirturee that
may occur in the variety.
At digging time the rodu- Of aacI,
Unit If separately harvested. and 2 fur
ther selection made frcl, the marked
units Of all those which most nearly
approach the size. shane and smooth
ness desired. The eelerted tuters
should be numbered with both field
and unit numbers and separately plsc-
ed In small sacks. FROM each Of the
units retained. ter Of the hest tubers
should be selected for the next sea-
sens planting. It Is Desirable to main
tain the STUDY 1T earh SELECTION ~,
the tuher-untt basis tha Following sea
son because It. permits a nore ar
eurete comparison of the i,el1a vicr ri
each.
The ht1I-selection n1ethod CONSISTS
I'm marking the most. promising plants
during tte growing season. AT har.
vesting' time aavs only those which
give greatest promise. Keep Tie crcs-
eny of each hill eeparste. end take
the same data as outlined for the
tuher unit. Plant on the tuher-un,t
basis this following season. For sake
of uniformity. a defnite number of
tubers-fwe or fnore-should he plant
ed from eacl, hill selection. From
this point Of the methods given in the
tuber-unlt work should he followed
The only requirements FOR the cue
cessfu! practice Of the t1-o methods Of
seed selections are = reasonable De.
gree Of paiastakinE effort orr the part
OF tl7s grower. some 12-inch garden
labels, a small pair Of balances. , suf-
foient number Of suitable small sacks
and a safe place in which to store the
selected tubers until required ny the