New Britain herald., 1915-02-25
Joseph A. Pagan Explains How He
 Raises Tub;TS on His Farm. PLANT SEED BEFORE MAY 18th
Relief Meeting Put Of to Tomorrow -Masonic Ball Expected This Year -COughlin Heirs on Anxious Scat- Local Cases in Superior Court.

urging the farmers or llllS SeSllOH
 to pay more attention to the raising
 of potatoes, which he has demon
 stratcd can be grown here at sub
 stantial profit, Joseph A. Pagan one
 of Scott's Swamp's best known agri-
 culturists, last evening described his
 methods for raising the subers for
 the benefit of the Pennington grang-
 CTS. MT. Pagan read a paper on
 "How 1 Raise Potatoes at the meet
 ing, and the grangers were greatly
 interested in the treatment given the
 subject.
 The exact methods which he em-
 ployed on his farm last summer
 when he raised over 5000 bushels of
 potatoes on twenty acres of land were
 explained in interesting fashion. MT.
 Fagans talk was given at the request of grangers who were genuinely sur
 prised over the potato kings" re-
 port at the recent convention of the
 Connecticut Pomological society.
 His paper in part follows.
 1T was glad to accept Mrs. M. H. Swifts invitation as lecturer to read
 a paper to Pennington grange, telling how I raised that crop of potatoes
 that made the town of Pennington famous.
 There has been many an acre, even in Hartford county, put to cul- tivation that should never have been redeemed from the forest. This rough unsightly land would be much more beautiful and more productive had it been left as the home of our wild friends-the birds and squirrels. and
 thus improve the value where now it is practically useless.
 There are many types of land in Pennington and l believe that every ] type in this town is suited to potatoes. I am convinced that the land on the average in the town of Pennington Is superior to that in any part of the state.
 Tn choosing my field for potatoes l prefer a good clover or grass sod | and as second choice corn stubble They can be grown to advantage on golden rod sod, or after white birch or after blackberry vines low land full of bogs and bulrushes if carefully drained-the latter being most ex- Cellent land for potatoes. Stony land raises fine potatoes if there is soil enough for the mother potato to build her nest. Nature seems to do the rest Glover and grass sod can be ploughed in the fall and again in
 the spring. I like nice seed bed if possible.
 Plant early, not later than the 18th of May, as potatoes need long season for best results. When thor l oughly ripe before digging the flavor is much better than if dug under ripe. The keeping quality is also greatly improved. II buy my seed from the north but
 always plant some of my own raising This year l am buying a part of my seed from Btrdseyeview Farm as the
 crop was so nice and looked so wig
 orous. In selecting seed from my
 crop we pick behind the digger the
 choicest specimens from the most vigorous part of the field. The seed IS hrst treated with formaldehyde for scab 1 cut the potato in good sized wedge shape pieces containing one or
 more eyes, commencing to cut at the stem end.
 Il plant with an Aspinwall planter.
 which has been ten years in use, us-
 ing four pickers on each side of
 planter making eight pickers, plant ing about thirteen inches in row rows three feet apart seed to be four inches deep in ground. When
 through planting I pue on the fertil-
 lzer, 100 lbs. of Mapes potato manure
 to each bushel of seed, making about 1'ooo lbs. to the acre. The fertilizer
 IS put on with machine dropping fourteen inches wide on the row. I then harrow the way the rows run fror hn
 mence cultivation and continue every week or ten days until nearly dig ging time. No set rule for this iob | as so many conditions enter here as to weather. weeds and crop. We try to do what will best meet the situa tion As for spraying. l commence when the bugs first begin to hatch out, us- ing Bordeaux mixture With arsenate
 of lead for the bugs. Sometimes it takes two or three applications With
 the poison to eliminate the bugs Af-
 ter they are gone I spray eight or nine times during the season with the Bordeaux. It seems almost un- l necessary to speak of the importance
 and necessity of spra ying with Bor-
 deaux for the success or failure of
 the crop may depend on tins opera
 tion and the manner of doing it.. Andrews J. Birdseye of Farming ton, who has been greatly interested in MT. Fagan's experiments was an other speaker at last nights meet Ing. He spoke on "Salesmanship" and described the methods that far mers should employ in disposing of thelr crops to the best possible f nanclal advantage to themselves. In Superior Court. IlalnVllle will furnish three cases