The Bemidji daily pioneer. [volume] (Bemidji, Minn.) 1904-1971, 1914-12-14

dlLcI oil CuS SudAA, SuuDuTueu duU
the injured potatoes has been culled
out, leaving stock of potatoes of
such quality that will sell at a prem
ium on any market.
The East and West.
For convenience we will call these
two fields the west and the east The
records on the west field shows that
it has been in three-year rotation
for the past twenty years, as fol-
lows: Grain, hay, and potatoes or
corn. During this time the field has
produced seven crops of grain, seven
crops of clover and timothy hay, four
of fodder corn and two crops Of po-
tatoes.
F Four-Year Yields.
The yield for the flour years just
passed were as follows: 1911, fod-
der corn, 10 tons per acre; 1912, oats,
56.7 bushels per acre; 1913, clover
hay, 1903 tons per acre, cutting;
1914, 3O5 bushels of marketable po-
tatoes per acre. The record of the
east field for the past twenty years
is as follows. Grain, grass and Gull
tivated crops in rotation, making
seven crops of grain, six crops of hay.
five crops of potatoes and two of
corn, and the production for the past
four years has been as follows: 1911,
potatoes, 247 bushels per acre; 1912,
oats, 70 bushels per acre; 1913, clo-
yer hay, SIT tons per acre in two
cuttings; 1914, potatoes, 314 bushels
per acre. The only treatment these
fields have had besides the ordinary
tillage has been an application of
barn-yard manure every third year.
The soil and the. climate have done
the rest. No commercial fertilizer
of any kind has ever been applied to
these fields. The lowest potato
yield by this station on upland soil
was in 1912, when rented field,
previously in timothy, yielded only
10 bushels per acre. The average
yield of potatoes at the North Cen
trail Experiment station since 1910
is 287 bushels per acre.
= The Desired Quality. I, .,..-
Have the potatoes grown here the
quality demanded by the best mar
kets? Yes, as seed potatoes for the
South and Central states they will
outyield seed stock from any other
section, and in the past they have
been remarkably free from disease
and for this reason we are hoping
that the merchants and farmers here
will not put this region in jeopardy
by shipping in potatoes from other
states where potato diseases prevail.
Yes, they have the native qualities
to SELL
OF course, we have some small po
tatoes and some sunburnt ones, also
some are injured when harvested, but
if the farmers persist in placing
these on the market it is not the po
tatOes' fault. Potatoes of many kinds
are grown here and all do we'll, but
they mix easily and refuse to sell
when handled by a foil, but that is
the fools fault and not the potatoes.
Some grow too large for the ordin-
airy market, but the alert farmer
saves these for the porters in the din
ing cars.
Feed to Pigs.
What do you do when the bottom
falls out of the potato market? Feed
them to the pigs. Four and a half
bushels of boiled potatoes are. equal
to a bushel of first grade corn. AS
corn is sold on the local market here
today potatoes are worth twenty
cents per bushel as feed for hogs.
At the present prices Of pork they
will return to you more than, that
in cash when fed to them boiled with
one part of corn or barley to three
parts of potatoes. In other words,
pigs will pay you $4,000 per acre,
gross, annually, if fed on potatoes
yielding 200 bushels per acre. Pro-
gressive communities growing more
potatoes than their pigs can eat,
store them in community ware
houses near the railways where they
can be safely kept until the market
demands them. These storage
houses are equipped with such facili-
ties that the potatoes can be safely
loaded and shipped in the coolest
weather.
You Can Compete.
E:Do you really mean to infer, then,
that the farmer of northern Mime.
sofa can compete successfully in the