The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1915-03-11
SELECTION OFssSEED POTATOES.
DIR. G. M. Twitchell of naine, Tells
How To Grow Tubers.

Three important lessons face the sue
cesstul potato grower, thoro prepare
ton Of the land. seed which has been
improved by selection thru series of
years, and intelligent nj ample fertili-
zatlon. | am not goins % omit the
very necessary part of the work cover
ed by care and cultivation, but am
forced to the conclusion that we come
nearer to good work here than in the
three points mentioned above.
Experience is teaching that old time
methods of seed selection will not suf-
flee. We say seed runs out but that is
not the right way to put 1t. 1t is the
man who runs out the seed, simply BY
neglectlng a few simple rules. The
man who fails to select his seed in the
field before digging time. is a certain
loser. 1t is tremendous strain on the
pocket book of the average farmer to
be obliged to Send away year after
year for fresh seed, yet this is the rule
with the great majority.
The time to commence the selection
OF seed is when the plants are eight
inches high. Every exceptionally
strong shoot should be marked and fol-
lowed thru the season. When digging
time comes. watch for these hills and.
If the stalks be strong and stout, the
leaves green, large and strong. and if
these mills carry SIX to eight good sized
potatoes and.very few small ones, save
hese hills for seed You cannot afford
to save good specimens from hills carry
ing any number of small potatoes.
In MAY, 1913 |, cross plowed and har-
rowed, and two weeks later plowed
again and fitted for planting. The re-
suit was the complete killing..out of the
couch grass so that only three hours
hand work has been necessary during
the entire season, and that only to
brush the earth about the hills after
the hitler had been used. The yield
obtained never would have been possible
but for the preparation. Three plow-
ings Seem unnecessary but; here was
where | saved money. 1t is not a
question of how many times to pillow, or
harrow, but to have the field in the
best possible condition for growing a
crop. If we are to realize most this
initial step cannot be neglected.
There is today no room for guess
it-will-do." Profit comes from the last
fifty or one hundred bushels, not the
first. The item of cost of production
must ever be reckoned with, and the
secret is to minimize the hand labor.
At the last narrowing | applied. at the
rate of twelve hundred pounds to the
acre, the following mixed chemicals
500 pounds of meat tankage, bone meal,
acid phosphate and muriate of potash,
thoroly mixed together. and four hun
dred more, of the same, in the plant, d
when planting. AS it would be three
weeks before quick acting nitroe en-.
eOuS leT IIllZeT WOulu De CdlIeQ IOr cut
out the nitrate of soda, at this time, and
reduced the cost. Just as the potatoes
broke ground, and l could follow the
rows, l applied, at the rate of four
hundred pounds to the acre, this mix
ture-nitrate of soda 400, meat tankage
400, bone meal 400, muIiate potash 300,
and raid phosphate 500. This gave a
5-10-7A mixture. The field was plant
ed June End and cultivated every five
days as long as we could get between
the rows. should have said that we
started the hitler as soon as the last
named application of chemicals was
made. The rapid growth and uniformly
vigorous tops gave the best possible
proof of the value of the fertilizer used
and the methods of application,
The bugs were out in numbers and the
first application, of the non-arsenical