Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1914-06-30

ulIicftht clcmentS Ga N-tich NJ is COM \
posed until at last you simply come up /.
on the truth woven into them.
The beginning of all knowledge is lit I
tie things. just as sure as the giant
fir tree springs from little seed that
can lie on the end of your little finger,
so sure are the sources of all sciences
and philosophers as insignificant. While
the average college graduate is putting
on what he calls the finishing touches
by sitting happily in the rear end of
an observation ear speeding across the p
continent, laying in store of ghmpses
of fleeting landscapes, the scientists
and philosophers, the men and women
who have made this speeding possible,
who have made possible the comforts
and luxuries of today, who have made
it possible to grow two pounds of prod
uce of superior quality where one
pound of inferior quality used to grow,
are even more happy spending days,
weeks, months, even years, in one lit
tie spot delving into and solving the
mysteries of some little item of ma
ture's handiwork.
And now, dear friends, nearly all /
am going to tell you about the noble
spud can be verified in most any little
patch of potatoes two rods square.
While l have had many acres of po-
tatoes to study from, have been years
gaining the knowledge 1 am about to
impart to you.
Now all these preliminary remarks
are to shame out the lazy ones and
encourage the fearful to begin the
work of at least breeding up potatoes
this fall.
Ten years ago / was talking with a
neighbor from whom had bought some
extra nice Beauties of Hebron seed po-
;Ltoes u couple of years before. They
did so well for myself and others in the
neighborhoOd they became quite ia
vOrite. l asked him where he ran on
to them. He told me one year he had
n little patch of potatoes that he dug
with fork. Seeing several nice hills
scattered around over the patch, he
picked them up and stored them by
themselves. The next year he planted
them separate from his main field. The
result was he got far better yield and
better quality of potatoes from his Sc
lected seed. asked him if he kept on
doing that way. He said: "No."
asked him why, and he said: "Oh, il
is n good deal of bother. But / guess
l will have to do it again for my po.
tatoes are running out pretty bad.
This was ,ne germ that set my mind
to working. The next fall wanted
to do that way. But we had many acres
to dig, and used potato digger and
were rushed to death for time, so / let
it go. The next year it was the same
thing over again. But this delay was
a good thing for me, for it spurned
me on to deeper thinking on the sub.
iect.
While picking up potatoes l observ.
ed some were nearly eaten up by scab.
Others were only partially affected.
Now and then l would run across
nice potato that had perfectly smooth
and healthy skin. This simple Observa-
tion had to be placed before my mental
vision time and again for two years
before | comprehended its significance
: The third spring while ! was sorting
potatoes began saving out all the
nice, large, smooth, uniform potatoes
} ran across. Out of nearly three hun
dred bushels ! secured between three
and four bushels of as fine looking po.
tatoes as ever you set eyes on. When
= | was ready to plant, l cut each potato
into halves, lengthwise, and threw out
: all that showed the least signs of dis.
d ease or hollOwness. had to throw out
. seventy per cent of those fine looking
potatoes, and plant them with my com.
: mon stock. You see, looks don 1T go far
. in potato breeding The remaining
thirty per cent | planted in the middle
| of my main field giving them idenu-
cally the same cultivation
l always cut my potatoes, leaving not
; more than two eyes in II piece, and only
one if they are strong and healthy.
throw away the cluster of eyes and
4: the one or two little eyes that are al.
ways on the heel end. The former sci.
dom develop anything but lot of lit.
tie potatoes, and the latter seldom grow
, at ALL
The select potatoes yielded me sixty
per cent more saleable potatoes than
my common stock. While my common
seed produced me many knobby pota.
toes, my select seed produced me prac-
tically none. OF course | stored them
by Themselves. The next spring that
little bin Of forty or fifty bushels of
potatoes was an interesting study to
, me. ] found practically every potato
that was cut by the potato digger was
l. starehed over and perfectly sound
There was not near the shrinkage from
evaporation naturally expected to take
!, place over winter. J. secured severa
bushels Of large, uniform potatoes from
Z among them. And ou cutting them in
to halves had to throw out thirty per
? cent instead Of seventy. The chief com
plaint was holowness.
My method of selection was crude
and unsatisfactory to me. / would
have liked to select the best yielding
y hills, and from these select the uniform
!. potatoes. Then | would have liked tC
}. plant number of potatoes by them
selves, cutting them one eye to the
4 piece and planting them so / could tel
= from what part of the potato each eve
!. came, and see what the difference il
8 yield of each eye would be; also dis
:, cover if there is anything in the indi
:, viduality Of potatoes grown in the same
v hill
. The potato is not the only thing that
!, can be improved by intelligent, syste
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