Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1914-04-02
NOW TO PRODUCE GOOD SEED IRISH
POTATOES

Washington, II. e., April l. ms 10
the season OF the year when the fernpr
should pay particular attention to sco.l
potatoes cautions the department Of aEyi
culture, and the use of high grade seed
would lncreas Sc the returns from the pota
to crop OF the country by many millions
of dollars A conservative estimate of the
Increase that might he expected from tho
use of high-gradc seed Is certainly not
less than 10 per cent. Such an increase
based on the average production Of the
past five years would amount to over 81,
100000 bushels having an approximate
value of SCI 10000. OF the many causes
which operate to produce low average
potato yield in this country. pure seed is
an important one. The American potato
grower pays too little attention to his seed
pota toes.
The European growers, especially thoss
Of Great Britain and Germany, pay ve!.-
strict attention to the quality and guam
tity of seed they use. This has led to tha
differentiation of the potato industry int"
seed and crop specialists. The seed 500
cialist makes a business Of rroduc,n-
high quality seed while the crop special
iet produces high grade table potato.
No such differentiation. at least to the
same extent, occurs in this country. While
| it is true that in certain sections there is
| a well-developed seed potato growing in
dustry, but comparatively few growers in
| these sections are paying sufficient alter
| ton to the elimina ton of diseased and
unproductlve strains. or to keeping tho
variety grown free from mixture with
| other varieties.
| BY far the simplest and most prom
| Using means of developing high grade
seed potatoes is that OF the tuber-
! unit and hll-selection methods. The
! former consists In selecting from the
seed bin before planting time con-
| siderable number Of the most perfect
| ly shaped tubers OF from to ounces
| in weight. When planted these tubers
| are quartered. as dropped. into as
| nearly equal parts as possible. This
! is done by splitting the bud"eye clus-
! ter in each direction from seed to
stem end of the tuber The 4 pieces
| of each tuber are dropped consecu-
| lively in the row at a distance of from
10 to 1e inches apart in the furrow.
| All tubers showing discoloration of
| the flesh or other evidence of disease
| should he rejected.
BY allowing an additional space be-
! tween each set of tours, the four
plants from each tuber are definitely
isolated from adjoining ones and the
grower can readily observe any varia
tion in vigor and uniformity between
the units planted. This method also
enables him to detect any mixtures
that may occur in the variety
At digging time the product of each
unit is separately harvested, and n
further selection made from the mark
ed units OF all those which most near
lily approach the size, shape and
jsmoothness deair cd The selected tu-
bers should be numbered with both
field and unit numbers and separately
placed in small sacks From each of
the units retained. 10 of the best tu-
bers should be selected for the next
seasons planting. 1t is desirable to
maintain the study of each sele ction
on the tuberunit basis the following
season because it permits more &C
curate comparison Of the behavior Of
each.
, The hill selection method consists in
marking the most promising plants during
the growing season, At harvesting time
save only those which give greatest prom
Use. Keep the progeny OF each hill separ-
ate, and take the same data as outlined
IOT the tuDeT unit. t-lanl on the tuDcl-
unit ba sis the following season. For sake
of uniformity, definite number Of tuberS
3 or more-Should be planted from each
| hill selection. From this point on tho
! methods given in the tuber-unit work
should be followed.
| The only requirements for the success
full practice of the two methods of seed
selections are reasonable degree of
| painstaking effort on the part OF the grow
or, some 1a-inch garden labels, small
pair of balances, sufficient number OF
suita BILE small sacks and safe place In
| which to store the selected tubers until
required by the next seasons planting,
In addition to this the grower should
have a breeding plant in which each sea-
sons selections can be developed up to
the point OF neld-planting stock.
The selection Of breeding plant need nce
necessarily he divorced from the general
field plant, In most cases it can he more
conveniently handled If il is a part of tho
| regular field All that is required is to
set aside as many rows as may be re-
quired to plant the selected tubers These
should be preferably on one side OF the
field SO that they can be more readily dis
trlbuted with the potato planter by re-
moving the disks and setting tho pillow =
trife deeper ff a pillow Is used In cover.
Ing, care should be exercised TO avoid