The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1918-02-27
POTATO GROWING

/ Especial 10 The Richmond Nlrginian.)
( Blacksburg. Va. .SFeb. 26.--Last year
the people who raised enough potatoes
( for their. own use and some to sell
found 1t a profitable business. This
year &c is even more important that
banner crop % potatoes should be
groNn. and what T. X Wolfe. as.
sistaut acrouomist al the Virginia ex-
pertinent station. has TO SAY on this
subject should he OF interest.
The demand for the 9ls potato
/ crop Of this country wiN likely he the
greatest in its history. Every effort
should be made to meet this demand,
There are certain factors under the
control Of the grower which deter
mine 20 great extent the yield Of the
potato crop. The attention given to
these factors VIII largely influence
the production and profits secured
from this years crop, The variety
planted has a marked effect on yield
Results OF experiments carried on at
the Virginia experiment station show
that the variation In yield of different
varieties il from eighty 70 100 bushels
varieties known as BliEs Triumph and
Irish Cohhier give good results. For
commercial purposes, Irish Cobhler,
Green Mountain, Sir Walter Raleigh
ard Peach Blow are recommended.
Fairly Rose IL good variety TO be
planted for home use In addition 90
these varieties there are several 9TH
or good varieties on the market
The size ~ seed piece planted has
an important influence on WELD From
the result secured at the Virginia sta
zion Il appears that the most prof
table size Of seed piece TO plant Is
one weighing one to one and one
half ounces These results show that
when only the eye was planted there
was obtained 'hirty-two bushels ~
potatoes an mere. from n one half
ounce seed piece there was secured
eightv-dve bushels from one ounce
piece 125 bushels, and from two
ounce piece. Al bushels. As potstocs
are ordinarily planted. IT requires 1T
teen bushels 10 plant an acre when
seed places are used, and
thirty bushels whene two ounces seed
pieces arc planted The practice Of
planting potato par,nRs is poor eenno-
my and leads only to decreased yields
Potatoes should hc planted four 20
FIVE 'p~hes deep in we'll prepared
seed bed tuEt as soon as the ground
can he worked In the spring. The
seed pieces should be dropped twelve
inches apart in rows two and ore-half
Il three feet apart n selecting seed
only sound healthy stock free from
disease should be kept. Sprouted seed
give higher yields that unsprouted and
ali potatoes TO be used for seed should
be placed in warm place In the light
This will cause sprouts TO start on
all tubers or strong vitality, while the
sprouts on the weaker potatoes viii
be slow In starting. or viii fail 10
appear, This sprouting process is real
~ a termination test and the weak po-
tatoes can be discarded Increase In
yield from eight To ten bushels an
a ere can be. expected from sprouted
seed ~ compared with unsprouted
seed. There In a common practice
In some sections Of tho state to clip
or and discard the bud end OF the
potatoes 10 be used for seed. on this
end the eyes are always humorous
This - poor economy, as experiments
show that the yields from potatoes
from which the bud end was not re.
moved wss greater than from those
from which the bud end was removed.
Heavy applications OF fertilizer US.
ually pay on potatoes, The fertilizer
used in normal times In one containing
& per cent nitrogen, 3 per cent phos-
phoric acid ana per cent potash
This fertilizer should be applied at the
rate OF 500 10 1900 pounds an acre,
500 pounds which is distributed in
the row and mixed with the soil and
the remainder is sown broadcast,
when farm uanurss are used or
legumes are grown IN rotation with po-
tatoes. the Der cent OF nitrogen may be
cut down The present scarcity Of
potash n1skeA It's use inadvisa BILE. but
fertilizers containing potash give good
returns when It can Re bought at
reasonable price.
Potatoes oftsn require g month 70
come up. For This reason come culti-
walton before the plants appear is ad-
v4sabls - keep down weeds. This
cultivation Is usually given with a
light harrow by running at right
angles 10 the rows After the plants
are about two inches high. they should
be cultivated with some form of cui-
tivator often enough to keep Down
weeds and the soil well muiched. I'm
less the soil Is wet, potatoes cultivat-
ed flat give as good yields as those
on ridges All civilizations should
cease when the tubers begin to form
FctatocH aFs FeAdy 70 harvest when
the vines begin TO die and when the
tubers do not skin badly in handling
After harvesting, potatoes should be
kept IN a cool dark, we'll ventilated
place 10 allow drying. Before freez-
Ing weather sets IN they should be re-
moved 10 the winter storage place
which should be dry, ventilated and
Kept 81 temperature from 35 to 40
degrees r Such conditions are us
ually found in cellars which are not