Milford chronicle., 1916-09-22
KENT FARMERS MADE
$4,000 FROM so ACRES
Risked 1000 Baskets of Seed Potatoes
in Experim snt to Try Out Poor
Ground.

Suppose YOU were running a 15l-acr
farm. And suppose fifty acres of tina
farm was very poor soil, consisting most
ly of light clay and sanu. Would yOl
care about risking 1000 baskets Of see'
potatoes, worth SIPS a bushel, in an eX
pertinent to see II proper care ana az
tentiOn could make that nelu prouuc'
prime "taters."
And suppose you did decide to try Out
the potato experiment. Suppose you ploM
ed up that field, fertilized the poor sol
and planted those valuable seed pota-
toes? How much would you expect thal
field to pay you? Would you nave the
slightest expectation that the nfty acres
of light clay and sand, even when tertll-
lied would return you a clear profit OF
more than $4,000 on that one crop? Does
I not seem hardly reasonable, does II
Now let US stop supposing ana get down
to facts.
wrests 5000 from Poor Soil.
Robert W. knight, a practical young
farmer who is manager Of a l5l-acre
! farm about two and one-half miles south
of Dover, which is owned by Allen Cum
ningham. Of Media, Pa, has just such
! a ffty-acre tract and he has succeeded
/ in wrestling $4,000 profit from the poor
\ soil Incidentally his potato field, while
| in bloom, was one of the finest ever seen
/ in Delaware and attracted favorable at
tention Of thousands of travellers along
the State road, which adjoins the field.
The bugs failed to damage scarcely
single leaf of the vast tract of vines,
his spraying machine always managed
to keep just a little ahead Of Mr.. Bug
and his devastating relations
In addition to clearing $4,000, or an
average Of 500 an acre, on his fifty-acre
potato patch, Mr. Knight found time to
cultivate the balance Of the farm and
has raised thirty-five acres of fine to-
matOes, which have been profitable
crop, and thirty acres Of corn. There is
also some fruit on the farm, in addition
to the poultry and live stock. Needless
man but he is well satisfied with the re-
turns of his labor. Mr.. Knights de-
scription of his potato experiment will
doubtless interest many farmers who
have tried or are thinking Of trying their
hand with white potatoes.
How He Did the Trick.
'T planned to start early in the spring
he declared but was delayed on ac-
count of the late season. / like to cut
the ground just as soon as the frost
leaves it, in March if possible. 1t was |
the first time the field had been put in |
potatoes, so 1 cut the ground both ways |
before plowing and only ,plowed about |
six inches deep. I planted 1908 baskets |
Of seed potatoes in the field and dug |
about 1850 baskets of fine potatoes |
which / sold for 76 cents a bushel as |
soon as I dug them. Had I kept them |
a month later I could have sold for 80 |
cents or 81 a bushel without any trouble. |
$500 Clear Profit.
"AIy gross receipts from the crop /
amounted to approximately Sc, $50, and /
and my expenses came to about S1650, |
leaving clear profit of about S5,100. l |
include all cost of labor as well as ma /
terials in my estimate of expenses. The /
seed potatoes cost me about S626 and i
about 80 days, estimated on One-man
basis, were consumed in cutting. plow-
ing, fertilizing, planting, narrowing, dig
sing, spraying and loading the crop on
The cars. l estimate the cost of this
abOr at slips a day. including board, as /
worked my regular farm hands in the
ield; II cost about two cents basket
10 dig the potatoes and one cent a bas-
let to load them.
"The total expense from the time I
purchased the seed potatoes until the
,rOp was loaded on the cars amounts to
approximately $3.50 Had l held the
potatoes until they reached the 81 mark,
which they did a few weeks after I Sold
would have received about IS, $50 for
he crop, which would have neeted me
bout S7,100 clear profit. But S5,100 is
lot so bad out of fifty acres Of Delaware
lay and sand is it2"