Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1917-05-04
Department Of Agriculture Gives
Method of Reducing Cost Of
Seed When Prices Are Soaring
to Present Level.
MANY persons, prompted by the

ot0tC NCtaA u dSlACAtt0lC .
ing how to grow them successfully in
their back yards or in vacant lots in
their neighborhoods. Others who in
the past have raised potatoes as a prof
liable way of utilizing idle land or as a
crop which repays them, In whole or in
part, for the cost and trouble of keep
ind down weeds and giving a more or
derly appearance to their properties
point out that good seed potatoes are
scarce and high In price and ask wheth-
er there is not some method of reduc-
ing the cost for seed for their plots or
half acres.
The cost of seeding, the garden spe-
cialists of the department point out,
can be greatly reduced if instead Of
using a whole potato for planting the
gardener will cut out from potatoes
cone shoped pieces of flesh, each on
tanning an eye of the potato. In this
way only one-fourth to one-ifth of the
flesh of the potato will be needed to
provide seed, and the remainder of the
potato can be cooked for table use.
These cones range from one-fifth to
0~ne-seventh of an ounce in weight,
whereas under the usual methods the
sets range from three-fourths to two
ounces in weight. A gardener under
ordinary conditions viii get best re-
suits by using fifteen to eighteen BUSH
els, or 900 to 1880 pounds of potatoes
to the acre. This method of preparing
sets, therefore, should make available
for table use over 675 pounds of pOta-
to flesh which under ordinary condi-
tons would be planted per acre.
Two Bushels For so by 100 Foot
Plot.
To plant a plot so by 100 feet, or
approximately one-ninth of an acre,
at the same rate of seeding would call
for one and two-thirds to two bushels
of seed planted in the ordinary way.
The method of using the cones and
eyes and cooking the remainder of the
flesh therefore becomes a worth while
economy even when a small area is to
be planted.
Under this plan it is not necessary to
prepare the seed all at one time. From
day to day the cones for seeding can
be cut from the potatoes as they are
being prepared for the table. The cut
tings then should be spread out ON a
piece of paper in a moderately COO
room (about so degrees Fahrenheit) and
allowed to remain there until they have
cured-that is, until the cut surface has
become dry. A day or two should suf-
fee for this, and potatoes then should
be put in a shallow box or tray and
placed where it is still cooler. Any
storage condition that wi. insure them
against frost on the one hand and I'M
due shriveling on the other should
prove satisfactory.
These seeds can be started indoors,
provided it is possible to secure suit
able soil and boxes. In such cases it
may be desirable to plant the eye cut
tings at once and allow them to start
into growth indoors with the idea of
transplanting them into the open
ground when danger of frost is past
and the ground is dry enough to be
cultivated.
Small Sets Require More Care.
The smaller the size of the set or
seed piece used the more thorough must
be the preparation of the soil. The
more finely the soil is pulverized and
the more uniform the moisture condi-
tons which can be preserved in the
soil the better is the chance for the
small seed piece to establish itself. A
small set in rough, lumpy or dried out
soil has little chance to live, let alone
make a crop.
Generally speaking, the smaller the
size of the set the closer it should be
planted in the row if maximum yields
are to be secured. Such sets may be
expected to give the best yields if not
spaced more than ten to twelve inches
apart In the row.
How to Grow Potatoes.
Successful potato growing, the gar
den specialists advise their CORE
spondents, hinges largely on the fol
lowing factors:
Good land, well prepared.
Abundance of available plant food
and moisture.
Cf1 - 1000 -xa-tkaN-