Grand Forks daily herald. (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1914-1916, 1914-10-06
POTATOES.

A news article from the western
part Of the state seys that five hun
dred cars will be needed to ship the
potato CROP from the Berthold district
alone this year. The estimates based
on acreage and probable yield place
the crop in that district at about 300.-
900 bushels, which at the ruling price
Of about 40 cents u bushel, will yield
a return of 100000 for this crop in a
single district.
1t is not long since not a single po-
tato was shipped from the Northwest.
Potatoes have been raised here ever
since families began to settle on home
steads, and, in fact, the potato crop
was often the first crop that the home
steader raised, for it could be raised
on sod. while other crops could not.
A favorite method Of planting in hose
early days was to drop potato sets i'll
every other furrow after the breaking
pillow. The next furrow slice would
v them over, and that ended the
operation until fall. The plants would
find their way to the light through
%crevices in the sod, and, as the land
was new, there were no weeds. When
it was desired to gather the potatoes
the partly rotted sod would be turn
ed Jack with a fork, and there, along
the bottom of the furrow. where the
potatoes, usually not large enough or
numerous enough to make Il large
prnn nor acre hvf nf r,1n1arofn civo
and of fair numbers, smooth, even,
dry and mealy.
But, while potatoes have been rails
ed since the early years, and have
yielded we'll and been of high quality,
they have been raised on a CONNER
cial scale in the Northwest for only
a few years. During these years it has
developed that, one year with another,
the potato crop is one of the most
profitable that can be raised on the
farm. More M more land is being
devoted to the crop each year., and
the building of warehouses at various
points has provided the necessary ac-
commodations for storage and pro-
lection from frost.
The average production Of potatoes
in the United States is about 90 BUSH
els per acre. The average for the
Northwest is about 100 bushels. Sew
eral men known to The Herald base
their calculations on a yield of $50
bushels. and get about that. One
Berthold man estimates the yield on
his zoo acres at 200 bushels per acre.
From a measured acre in the center
Of a field he took 240 bushels. Occa-
sional yields of 800 and 400 bushels
are reported. From a single acre of
newly grubbed brush land in Pembina
county. the owner last year harvested
900 bushels.
Here we have a range from the ma
tional average of 80 bushels to 500
bushels. What makes the difference?
Local weather conditions have their
influence. Careful selection of seed
counts for a good deal. But, with
these elements exactly alike. there
will still be a. wide range. The one
factor that has more influence than
anything else is cultivation. With
seed and weather, and land just alike,
one field will produce several times as
many bushels per acre as any other,
for the sole reason that it receives
better treatment.
Perhaps the most profitable expen-
diture on the farm is that which
measures the difference between a
cultivation of the potato field which ia
just passable and that which is
thorough and complete. A little bet
ter blowing, an extra narrowing. an
extra stirring with the cultivator and
a little more care in spraying makes
the difference between a crop that is
just fair and one that is very good.
Two or three dollars an acre, spent in
this way. will invariably be returned
several fold in additional yields, and
may easily produce a hundred or more
bushels per acre.