Pine Bluff daily graphic. (Pine Bluff, Ark.) 1893-1942, 1915-02-28

tato is cut. Cut the pieces large
enough SO that there will be a good
slzed piece Of flesh with each eve.
Planting.
There are two methods Of planting
the potato vitz: the hand method aac
the machine method. If the area to
be planted is :eIy small the hand
methed will be all right, but if as
much as five acres are to be planted
then the machine is by far the better
one to use. The depth of planting de-
ponds largely unon the nature of the
soil. Six inches is not too deep for a
sandy soil, but on a clay soil four
inches will be deep enough. The
pieces are generally planted about
one foot apart in rows 80 to SO in
ches apart.
Cultivation.
The cultivation for potatoes is not
very different from that of other
truck crops grown in the South.
Cultivation should begin as soon as
possible after planting, and continue
until the crop is fairly we'll mature.
The cultivation should be frequent
but shallow. | do not think that it
is necessary to pillow deeper than
three inches at any time after the
crop has been planted Do not &C.
lay cultivation until the weeds get
hold. To do SO means that the yield
of potatoes will be lessened in eradi-
eating the weeds. The object OF
cultivation is not only to kill weeds
but to conserve the soil moisture and
make more plant food available.
Spraying
1t is almost impossible to grow any
crop these days without spraying. In
every crack or crevice Of the field
in every fence corner, and On almost
every cid decaying plant body there
Is hidden an insect or disease germ
ready to attack our plants as soon as
they appear above the ground. The
Colorado potato beetle and the dis
case called blight are the most com
mon enemies Of the potato Forum
| lately we can control both of these at
the same spraying using the follow
ing formula:
lbs. copper sulphate (hluc stolel
5 lbs. unslaked lime.
2 lbs. arsenate OR "a Id. Paris green
so gallons Of water.
Spraying should begin as soon as
the vines are fur to six inches
high and continue at intervals of two
weeks until the crop is near mature
For large areas barrel Or power
spray should be used.
Harvesting.
The time OF harvesting depends up
on the market condition after GER
foi1 cta &c OF ,1vify
reached. 1t often happens that i
the early season one can get much
higher price for his potatoes than he
can later on in the year. Where this
is the case it may ba profitable tc
sacrifice a little i'll yield for the
higher price. The bulk Of the poi.-
toes grown il. the South are harvest
ed before they are fully mature. This
is necessary in order to get ahead
of the Northern grower. AS the Greg
is being harvested it should also be
graded or sorted so that potatoes
that are of the same size will be
place din the same bag or box.
Stoling.
| am doubtful if it ever pays tne
Southern grower of Irish potatoes to
store them. To do SO means lot OF
extra labor, they always shrink in
storage, there is danger of freezing
and quite oftsn there is a lot Of tneI,
that rot in spite OF all we can do. We
do not know that prices will be any
better next spring than they are at
the time of digging. l fully believe
that it will be best for our growers
to cooperate, grow in car load lots,
carefully grade the potatoes, then
sell f. o. b. at the growing point.