The Glenwood post., 1915-05-22
Old papers for sale at this Office.
WRESTLING WITH THE sPuD CROP

Considering the difficulties whicn
have confronted our potato growers on
the irrigated lands during the last few
years it would seem wise to pay spec
ial attention to such questions as the
preparation of land, the time and man
ner of irrigation, the seed supply and
the rotation of crops on lands designed
for potato culture. Since the potato is
deep-rooted plant and forms its tub
ers beneath the soil, it stands to reason
that it requires must deeper seed bed
than is necessary for cereal crops.
In fact the preparation for potatoes
should be as deep and as thorough a.
for sugar beets. whether in irrigated
or in the humid region. If prepara-
tory crop such as alfalfa is to be turn
ed under for spuds it is advisable to
plow this crop under in the fall and to
compact the soil sufficiently to make
it good retainer for water, but not SO
smooth that it will blow. Before plant
ing in the spring the land should be
made fine to a depth sufficient to ad-
nit of planting and cultivation.
If unusually dry, the land should be
irrigated before the crop is planted. IT
the normal precipitation has occurred
during the winter and spring months,
the crop may be planted without irri-
cation. 1t is not advisable, however,
to plant in dry hot earth and to in
mediatedw irrigate it. Irrigation should
preeede rather Than follow the plant
ing. If the crop does not come on and
grow rapidly after planting, irrigation
should be provided from time to time
as the appearance of the crop and the
condition of the soil would indicate.
A dark green or blackish color on tho
part of the plants shows lack of mois-
ture while light green or yellowish tints
| indicate the presence of too much mois-
ture. The plants should be kept grow
time they appear above ground until
they have completed the season s work.
Cultivation supplemented by irrigation
must be relied upon to keep the plants
working. 1t has been the prevailing
practice to grow potatoes upon lands
which have previously grown a legumi
nous crop such as alfalfa or peas. These
crops supply organic matter in abund
anee, and at the same time provide
the necessary amount of nitrogen for
the spud crop.
After careful observations of the be-
havior of the crop on irrigated soils
particularly on those of a retentive
nature, it is believed that more salts
! factory results will be obtained by fol-
lowing somewhat modified rotation
in which the legumes are plowed under
for a cereal crop such as corn which is
given clean cultivation and the cereal
is followed by the potato crop. #
corn is not grown in sufficient quantity
to bear this relation to the rotation,
oat or wheat stubble may be used ir-
stead.
The decaying organic matter produ>
ced by blowing under alfalfa would
then be removed far enough from the
potato crop to allow complete decompo-
sition Of the organic matter and =
slight withdrawal of nitrogen by the
cereal crop. On some of the lands
where our alfalfa potato rotation has
been carried on for a number of years,
the growers say that it is necessary to
raise = crop of sugar beets from time
to time when the land becomes too rich
for potatoes. This observation is very
pertinent to the success of the spud
industry in the irrigated sections and
although alfalfa must always form the
main crop of any rotation system in
this region, a greater use Of cereals
particularly corn, would prove an adj
vantage in connection with potato cul-
ture.
EUGENE GRUbB.