Imperial Valley press., 1915-12-14
Spuds to Become
Valley Industry

"Thc growing q potatoes, which l.
yet in its infancy. is destined 10 be
come one Of the greatest industries IL
Imperial Valley William KelI, said
this morning in commenting en- tho
prospects for the industry for next
season. Kelly. who has been associ-
ated with the nursery business for a
number of years, is endc1voring 10 in
terest ranchers i'm the potcntialilies Of
spud raising in the valley.
"Why do | think it is poine To he
one Of the big industries OF the val
ley? There are number of reasons.
In the first place, the quality o. po-
tatoes raised in the valley surpasscs
that of spuds raised any place in the
United States. but probably the fact
which is most important is thai they
can be produced here and sold al least
month before the first croD is pro
duced in other sections of the country.
The coast spud season opens about lie
first of Nav and by that time The
Imperial Valley crop has been harvest
ed and sold
And they bring an unusually good
price, too, fer that very reason, ht
continued. "fhe variety which doe.
+ hest i'm the valley is luuqWn as .ba
White Rose potato. About lo0 dlve
are required before the potaIae# Wa-
ture and he harvesting sea saa ev-
tends over a month. OF course he
production at first is light, bill to-
ward the end Of the season the growth
Increases rapidly.
Potatoes do not thrive here rs well
as they do in some other sections. but
the fact that they can hc produced
earlier commanding n better ptirs
than those produced elsewhere. easily
offsets the difference an production.
"The most favorable feature oi
spud culture here however, is thai .
crops can be grown during the Year.
The first half OF The season viii open
some Gme neNt month, when the
tubcrs are planted and a second cr5p
Will b" PAINTED about / months later.
80 far there is a very small acre
age devoted 10 potatoes +. 4. Ding
man of lleber expects TO plant about
20 acres to spuds this season. and y.
II. Meserol, Il local ranchcr, will plant
10 on - acres.
"But the fact that there is moro
money in growing potatoes than any
thing else is demonstrated by ne ev-
pelience Of +. II. Erickson Of BraN-
ley, who planted - acres to potatoe5
las year, and received returns of So
an acre mel. HIS gross returns un
lie crop were y, 100. After he had
harvested The Potatoe5 he planted the
land to Mexican June corn and pro-
durcd a maximum crop.
"Some experience i'm the culture o.
ro,atocs is valuable asset 10 Il ranch
cr who expects Ia devote an acreage
To the crop. Iha ground requires a
thorough irrigauug before the crop
is planted and after the surface has
dried sufficiently the seeds my be
planted and irrigated frequently. but
lightly.
Imperial Valley viii probably nay-
or have potato aftIictious which eroN
ors ON tie coast and other places are
forced to.coatend Nth Possibly that
is because tatef diseases hava never
been implanted IL lhc soil here. A
lanchcr in the North End planted
some seeds las Hoar which We're af-
flicted with what is known as seaL.
a scl.y &fflio1oH on thc surface a.
the potato, and when the crop WI
harvested, the potatoes were found t.
be entirely free Of the disease.
The lanchers of the valley do not
yet realize the immense possibilities
Of raising crops which produce the
greatest returns Barley and other
crops may be all right, but if tine
farmer Is looking for the greatest re-
turns from land which is good enough
ON which 10 ralSa potatoes, lie sh8ui