Newport daily independent., 1918-07-02
MUST PLANT LATE
 IRISH POTATOES
Potatoes From the Early Crop Can Not Successfully Be Kept Over
 During Hot Summer Months.
J. g. Knox, Horticulturist, Extension
 Division, U. of A.

Division, U. of A.
 Even though Arkansas has what is supposed to be the largest Irish potato crop in it's history, 1t must be remem- bered that potatoes from the early crop can not successfully be kept over the hot months of summer. Every family must, therefore, plant a late crop for winter use or take chance on doing without potatoes be- cause with the transportation facilities of the railroads overburdened there is doubt whether or not we can get cars to haul potatoes into our State. We must not burden our railroads by i'm porting potatoes this year. The late crop of Irish potatoes is the important potatoes from this crop can be stored easily over the winter or even until the spring crop is ready for use. Po- tatoes from the late crop are also ex- cellent to use as seed for planting the early crop. The yield from the late crop is not generally very good yet it will require only one-fourth to one half acre of ground to produce all of the potatoes that the average family will need
 The following suggestions may be helpful to those who wish to plant late crop of potatoes: About two to three weeks before the potatoes are to be planted they should be placed in a semi-shady location, piled not more than four inches deep, then covered over with straw, leaves or old sacks. This should be kept moist until the DO tatoes begin to sprout. AS soon as the sprouts are one-fourth of an inch long it is time to plant the potatoes. In planting it is good idea to cover the potatoes as soon as possible after dropping because the extreme heat of the summer sun may damage them.
 Since the soil is generally rather dry at planting time for the late crop, it is considered best to plant the potatoes little deeper than is required for the early crop. The deep planting insures more abundant supply of moisture for the plants and at the same time the deeper soil is some cooler than the surface soil. It is true, however, that even though the seed pieces are plant ed deep the young potatoes will often form near the surface of the ground Remember that if you step on each piece of potato as it is planted it will be brought in direct contact with the soil, thus insuring more moisture for sprouting. This, of course, is practical only on small scale. The planting should be done from July Is to August 1. However, some prefer to delay planting until August 10. This may be all right for certain years, but our farmers lost several thousand bushels last fall because of late planting and early frost. The later the crop can be planted, the better, just so 1t has time to mature before frost but it is generally AonsifSered safer to plant at the earlier date. We can't afford to lose our crops this yea~ because the
 
 South needs them.
 Cultivation for the late crop does not differ from tha1 of the early plant ed crop. The surface of the soil must be kept we'll stirred. The cultivation will keep the soil from becoming ex- vated by allowing the air to circulate more readily between the soil parti- c1es. In case of heavy rain cultivate as soon afterwards as the soil is suf- toes when the vines are wet, since by so doing you may spread disease. Some diseases spread very readily when moisture is present.
 The late blight which often causes a great loss in this second crop can be controlled almost completely by the use of Bordeaux mixture. The dying of leaves is often spoken of as tip burn or sun-scald, but Bordeaux mix ture greatly lessens the damage done.
 As soon as the crop is mature it should be dug and placed in cool cellar or banked out in the opeA. Some of our farmers store the crop in banks successfully A well-drained To- cation should be selected and slight mound made. Over this place Mayer of dry straw or leaves. Pile the pota toes on this in a cone shape, having some form of ventilator through them. Next cover these wsth layer of straw or leaves; over this put layer of soil very shallow at first but deeper as the weather gets cold Cover so that the