The farmer and mechanic., 1915-03-09
METHODS OF BOY
POTATO CHAMPION

I tnlted states Department Of Agri- /
cultures Potato Club. raised a cror /
valued at $1S7.l7 on one-haif acre |
aNd will receive an educational "Trip |
TO California at the time Of the fair !
Here is the story Of his methods, says
an article in the New York Slr~
In the early spring of 1914 !
bought my seed potatoes at Burlev
ldaho. | purchased the Idaho Rural
| potatoes. They We're not especially
selected seed, therefore l Was VERY
| careful IN preparing the seed fer
| planting. ] was anxious that eye~v
seed piece had one or two perfect
| eyes il. l then treated the seed
with q formaldehyde solution zone
pint TO thirty gallons water.l This
treatment consisted in soaking the
| seed (befOre cutiing) for two hours
lin the prescribed solution. The pur-
pose of the treatment was TO Kill any
scab germs appearing on the surface
of the potatoes. Other tilan this
there was no treatment.
"F'ron March 20 10 March 80 I pre-
pared my land. / covered the ground
| With barnyard manure, using eight
| tons Of wet manure to the half acre
/ ploughed the land twelve inches
deep, using four horses for the work.
Immediately followed the plcuneh
roWed it three different times I die
the plOughing in the forenoon and
| followed with the harrow in the af-
| ternoon. / Gid this TO conserve the
moisture and mellow the soil After
| narrowing l pulyerized the c1ods by
: dragging up the soil with d square
framed timber. / tried in every way
to be particular about every phase
of cultivation, as [ figured that the
secret Of my SUCCESS was good cul-
: tivatiOn.
Five days later, on April 5, agair
went over the land with a spring
| tooth harrow The following week
0 / again went over it with a spiked
y tooth harrow, which kept The sol
: moist ana mellow. Just before plant
= | ing | went over it again with tbs
:, square timber ia order TO make i
= perfectly Level. On April 18 | plant
G ed the seed in ploughod burrows
= inches deep and the rows 80 inChe
It apart, the seed being dropped abou
e twelve inches apart in the rows. Tn
= seed was then covered about fou
= inches deep with q small han
plough. AS soon as the little plant
appeared above the ground | bega
my work on the field. ] at one
freed the field of weeds by giving it
&c thorough narrowing with q spike
tooth harrow. This | did May 5 an
repeated the same treatment on Ma
o IL. On May 26 [ used the hand Gu
0, tivator drawn by one horse, giyin
n them thorough cultivation with TIL
le Implement, after which l cultivate
e, them once with the hand hoe, clean
x ing cut all Of the weeds.
l. During ali the time I was WOrf
n ing in my potatoes | watched the
IT growth very carefully, as | was war;
l. ed about the appearance OF plant Oh
eases and insect enemies which n1igl
'd appear to injure the plants Fortl
le nately, as far as I was able to deteC
J. neither plant diseases nor insect en-
s. mics appeared, as the growing plan
e. had such q strong. thrifty appea
y ance.
a Up to June IS the plants i1s
lo grown rapidly and gave a strong, VII
orous appearance. Soon after tn
date they began to blossom and
ne June 25 I gave them the first app
~ cation of irrigation water. J. irrigat'
=, - them on July and again on July
- The crop was matured with but the
ay three applications Of water. Aft
10 the second irrigation the vines we
20. so large that l could not work in the
nv without destroying them. The oper
ais tons practically ceased from this til
ON until the tubers were ripe 81
,r- ready for digging. l sent q select
'er so pounds to the State Fair, whi
Nv was held at Salt Lake City on Oct
a. Der 80, for which / received hone
,re able mention by the judges. On {
ne tober 13, Il and Is l harvested t
he crop and the potatoes were weigh
me and sold right from the field. I fou
,at | on careful checking OF the weigi
that my half acre had produced 3
bushels Of marketable potatoes, t
equivalent of 72O bushels per acre"
The following table will give q
sa1 itemized cost Of production, with
net profits per half acre:
Value of crops $lo7
Tho COSI.
the Value of manue ........ 500
nee Spreading manure 400
by Ploughing l.oV
en-. Narrowing six times. -. 1.5G
ept Leveling Loo
ted Cost Of seed, $50 lbs. see
Planning seed 200