Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1918-03-04
NOW FOR POTATO GROWING:
A PROFITABLE BUSINESS


ELACNSEuRG. VA. March a-I.nst
year the people who raised enough
/ potatoes 70 rthcir own use aud some 10
soil found it profitable business.
! This year it IS even more impor,am,
that "a banner crop OF potatoes should
be- grown. and What T. *. Wolfe. as
SiStaut aSrouomiSt a; the Virginia en-
pertinent station. has to say on this
subject should he Of interest.
The demand for the 1918 potato
CROP OF th.S country viii likely be tho
ere"teat il it's history. Every cGor,
III tys
"'rh" arc certain factors under
the control Of III" grower which deter
'..re - great extent the Weld OF
the potato crop The attention given
- these factors Will largely inGeunce
lHiS years crop Tho variety planted
mas a marked effect on viola Results
"i experiments carried on q. the Nir-
Gin!a eNrCrim"nt station show that The
variation IN Weld of different varieties
Is from eighty 10 40 bushels per acre.
for carly potatoes. the varieties known
as hISS Triumph ana Irish Cohhlcr
give good results. For commercial
purposes. Irish CObbler. Green Noun
tain. Sir Walter Raleigh and Peach
q good variety 10 be planted Tor home
as" In addition 10 these varieties
there ar" several other good varieties
on the marHet.
The size OF seed piece planted has
au IMPORTANT iuiiucncc ON Weld. From
the rcsul: secured a, the Virginia sta.
tul j; appears thai tho most pruii-
tah!c size of seed piece 10 plant is ono
Weighing ono TO ono ana onc-half
ounces. These results show that when
only The eye was planted there was
obtained thirty-two bushels Of potatoes
r., Har". from oue-hnif ouuC" seed
nIccH th"t" was secured cighty-nvc
bushels from II ono ounce piece l2S
bushels and from q two-ouncc nicce
III bushels. AS potatoes are ordinarily
planted Il requires nttecn bushels to
plant an acre when one ounce seed
pieces are used aud thirty bushels
when two-ouncc seed pieces are planted.
IN" practice Of planting potato parings
is moor economy and leads only to do
CREASED Yields.
Potatoes should he planted four to
-. inches deep in q well -preparcd seed
bed Just rs soon as tn" ground can
be worked in the spring. The seed
pieces should be dropped twelve inches
apart in rows two and onc-half to
three feet apart In selecting seed
only sound healthy stocr. free from
disease should he kept. Sproutcd seed
give higher Yields than unsproutcd. ana
all potatoes ia he used for seed should
be placed i'm warm place in tho light
about two weeks before planting. This
VIII caUs" sprouts 20 start on all ,uhers
Of strong vitality. while tho sprouts
on the weaker potatoes VIII he slow in
starting. or will fail 20 appear This
spr"uting process is really a gcrmina-
ton test ana the weak potatoes can
hc discarded. Increase in yield from
eight 10 ten bushels an acre can bc
expected from sproutcd seed as com
pared with unsproutcd seed There is
a common practice III some sections
Of the state to clip off ana discard the
bud end of the potatoes 10 be used for
seed; on this end the eyes arc always
numerous. This is poor economy, as
experiments show that tho yields from
potatoes from which tho bad cmd was
not removed was greater thsn from
mos" from which the bud end was re-
moved
i'nvN arm. IONS Of ior'i ,i@"r. u
naiiy pay on potatoes The fertilizer
used III normal times is ono containing
per cent nitrogen n"r c"nt rh"S-
nhor'r ar,d an" per cent potash.
nus icrtlli%cr should b" 'np'!ed n the
r"i' OF Soo l" ''boo pounds an acre.
'oo pounds o! ""t.A Is diStrihuisd IN
me row an" NIKE" WIN INC so'i ana
me re"'a'hH"r Is SOM h'o@ucast w hch