Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1921-09-08
UNCLE SAM ADVISES
POTATO GROWERS
How do potatoes grow?

How do potatoes grow?
Why some vines produce many
tubers and others only few?
Do big seed pieces produce better
potatoes than small pieces?
When does the tuber begin to
form?
When does moisture have the most
effect on the production of potatoes!
What is the relation of soil to po-
tata production?
lions which have been asked about
the growth and yield Of one of Amer
ica's largest and most distinctive
crops, and which former observers
have been able to answer only IN
completely. Experts in the bureau o
partment Of agriculture, have con-
Quoted a series of experiments In po-
tato growth, the results OF when
are published in department bulletin
958, Development of Tubers IN the
Potato, which has just been ISSUED t
terest not only to the plant physlo!o-
gist but also to the practical grower,
as a knowledge of the relation OIL the
setting and subsequent deVeloplnelc
of tubers of the potato may, 70 q
certain extent, be put TO practlcal
use.
Tuber formation, the department.
experts state, begin in general at
about the end of the period of flower
but development, although this -
not in all leases an exact criterion.
Experiments showed that the num-
Der, as we'll as the size, OF potatoes
in a hill increased for several weeks
after the first potatoes were large
enough to dig. A small increase IN
the weight of tuberS was fould 10
occur even after the vines had been
killed by frost. The maximum Tate
L, S1rhn
occur about the last of August or
first of September, which was ap-
proximately 80 days after plantlns.
An interesting development OF the
experiments was that the nunoer
and weight of tubers per MAI were
found to be influenced ny IhS yh s
and the kind of seed planted. Whode
notatoes used as seed yielded HEAVIER
fhan half potatoes, and these more
than quarters, and the larger tne
seed piece the greater the ylelo per
hill. A whole, potato usea a. as ,a sGer
Welded more than a nall OF quai o7i
potato OF equal weight.
The experiments showed that ,ap-
parently light soils are better for
potatoes than heavl soils. The low
est production of tubers, with re-
spect to both number and weight ser
hill, was on the heaviest soil; the
highest numbers and yields were
department experts deem it possible,
however, that these results might
be modified somewhat under differ
ent climatic conditions.
Two-year tests with irrigation in
dictate that the early application OF
water before tuber formation had
started resulted in an increase in the
number of tubers, as we'll as In the
weight per hill. Late irrigation act
ualiy increa sed the weight but made
little difference in the number of
tubers per hill. The irrigation. eX-
periments were not carried to final
conclusion, but indicate that each ap-
plication of water at almost any pc
riod in the growth of the plant, pro-
vided excessive quantities are not
used. may be expected to produce an
increase in the weight of the. crop,
but that little or no increase in the
number of tubers is likely to result
from irrigation after tuber lorna
ton is we'll started. .+
The bulletin contains an interest
ing description of the tuber-bearlng
parts of potatoes and their metnoa
of growth. 1t may be obtained Tree
on request to the Division of Publ
cation, U. S. Department OF Agrl-
c11ltnrA.