The Oakes times. [volume] (Oakes, N.D.) 1906-current, 1917-04-05
SAVING SEED POTATOES

Agricultural preparedness is a sub
ject worthy of serious consideration
considering the present status of the
price of food and because of the i'm
pending crisis which may face this
country in the near future. The high
price of potatoes may decrease the
acreage. A saving can be made the
town dweller and if time will permit
it can be done on the farms. In fact.
l have found farmers preparing for
what is being recommended below
by garden specialists of the u. 8.
Department of Agriculture in order to
meet the seed potato situation.
"The high cost of seeding Irish DO
tatoes can be greatly reduced, the
garden specialists point out, if, in
stead of using whole potato for
planting the gardener will cut out
from potatoes cone-shaped pieces of
flesh, each containing an eye of the
potato. In this way only from one
fourth to one-f1fth 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 one-seventh
of an ounce in weight, whereas under
the casual methods the sets range
from three-fourths to two ounces in
weight. A gardener under ordinary
conditions will get best results by
using Is to 18 bushels, or 900 or 1880
pounds of potatoes to the acre. This
method of preparing sets, therefore,
should make available for table use
over 675 pounds of potato flesh, which,
under ordinary conditions, would be
planted per acre.
"Tc plant plot of so by 100 feet,
or approximately one-ninth of an acre,
at the same rate of seeding, would
call for % to 2 bushels of seed,
planted in the ordinary way. The
method of using the cones and eyes
for seed and cooking the remainder
of the flesh, therefore, Decomcs q
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 seed
ing can be cut from the potatoes as
they are being prepared for the table.
The cuttings then should be spread
out on piece of paper in moder-
ately cool 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 suffice for thtx.
and potatoes should then be put in
shallow box or tray and placed
where it is still cooler. Any storage
condition that will insure them
against frost on the one hand and
undue shriveling on the other should
prove satisfactory.
"These seeds can be started in
doors, provided it is possible to Sc
cure suitable soil and boxes In such
cases it may be desirable to plant the
eye cuttings 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.
SmaII-sized 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
conditions which can be preserved in
the soil the better is the chance for
the small seed piece to establish it.
self. A small set in rough, lumpy,
or dried-out soil has little chance to
live, let alone make 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 10 to
12 inches apart in the row.
Preparing Soil for Potatoes
"The types of soil in which the po-
tato plant thrives best are those des-
ignated as sandy or gravelly loan
soils. 1t may be grown with a fair
degree of success on any type of soil
except loose sand and a heavy thick
clay soil, provided the land is we'll
drained and contains the necessary
plant food.
Successful potato production is de-
pendent to large extent on the thor
oughness with which the land is pre-