Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1922-03-11
AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION
~ DR.. ANDREW M. SOULE 4@a~e~@.


be sufficient supply Of this very
desirable and wholesome vegetable
to carry US through an off-season
of the year when sweet potatoes are
not available and when we need the
Irish potatoes as a desirable addl-
ton to the family dietary. 1t would
mean keeping in Georgia two Or
three million dollars, or maybe even
a larger sum that is sent somewhere
else for this particular Vegetaple.
1t would mean the distribution OF
the large sum of money indicated
in many towns and hamlets located
throughout the state! 1t would rep
resent a permanent saving of wealth
produced in Georgia which is other
wise dissipated and lost if it goes
outside the state to purchase a
product, which we can produce, IN
superabundance at home and OF a
wholly desirable character as We'll.
Aside from the commercial aspects
OF this proposition, comparatively
few of our $4,000 homes are ade-
quately supplied with Irish potatoes
either during the spring, summer or
fall. The fact that one cannot store
potatoes in a sweet potato storage
house should mot deter one from
growing a sufficient amount for
home use. 1 have never enjoyed the
advantages of sweet potato storage
house in which to keep my Irish
potato crop, yet during the past de-
cade I have never failed to have
potatoes on hand from the first
To- hA O.
ceraber of the year in which they
were grown. How is this done:
Simply by digging the potatoes, as
already advised, sorting them out
carefully, spreading them out in
thin sheet on the dry earth found
underneath the house. Enough ven
tilation should be provided to in
sure the changing of the air as
often as possible, and it is good prac"
tice to turn the potatoes over once
in a while and to rub off any eyes
that may show evidences of viabili-
ty, but this is all the attention they
need. In the darkness of a little
storage space underneath the house
the potatoes can be kept satisfac-
toriIy for several months in a per-
fectly wholesome condition for food,
and in a wholesome form to use for
planting later on in the season if
that proves to be desirable.
BY this simple method Of proce-
dure any family may be supplied with
Irish potatoes during the late spring
and summer, If one were to go out
to purchase them the cost, depend
ing ON the size of the family, would
amount anywhere from SIS up to $25
or $780,, Surely this is an amount
worth saving, but aside from that
fact the family would be supplied
with variety in the dietary which
is of the greatest Importance and
desirability. Most of use are sleep
ing over gold mines and do not real
ize that fact. There is always an
impression that the sun shines
brighter somewhere else than at
home, the grass grows greener in
some far-aWay valley than the one
in front of your door, and that OPP
portunity is to be found far away
from home. Why not look for the
nuggets of gold in the fields around
us? They are there just as certain
as in the mine in the far distant
mountain. The gold is of a better
out indefinitely if you usea reason
able amount of skill and intelligence,
whereas even if you discover the
mine you can only take it out once.
The Irish potato is a crop which
has never been appreciated at its
face value in the south We have
never grown and utilized it as eX-
tensively as our conditions justify.
item of our spring and summer die
tary, as it ought to be. We have
never commercialized and exploited
it as they have in other sections of
the country. We enjoy all the nat
ural advantages which any section
could hope to- possess in the mat
ter Of the successful cultivation and
of this crop. We may plant
it for spring production at any time
in the late fall that the fancy dick
tates. There is no reason, for in
stance, why the Irish potato should
not be planted in many parts of
Georgia in December. We certainly
can plant it any time in January if
seasonal conditions permit us to op-
crate the ground. Our great trouble
with the Irish potato is a failure to
plant it at the right time. We seem
possessed of the idea that it is a
late-season crop. 1t is a cool season
crop and it will give astonishing re-
suits if planted sufficiently early to
reach desirable degree of maturity
before hot weather sets in. If you
do not propose to plant it at the
right tiae you will be wasting your
energy in attempting to handle this
crop, but whether you have a large
plantation or small you should make
it your business this year to put out
a reasonable acreage in Irish pota-
toes. If you have only a little gar
den lot 40 feet square put part of
it in Irish potatoes. There is no
crop you can grow which will make
you a larger relative return on the
investment and which will furnish a
larger amount of desirable nutrients
for your family at a lower cost.
To some it may appear that l
have accomplished the virtues of
the Irish potato, but this is not my
intention or purpose. I simply wish
to call to the attention of Our peo-
pie the opportunity which the cul-
tivation of this crop on a rational
scale affords not only from the stand
point of the commercial grower and
large landowner but from the stand,
point of the owner of the humblest
home in the state and wherein a
large family of growing children is
likely to be found whose little bod
les need Ito be provided, with the
widest variety of food possible in the
everyday dietary.
Controlling Anthracnose in Water
melons
S. M. Y, Quitman, Ga, writes:
I wish to know how to treat
watermelon seed to control an
thracnose. Would also like to
know what kind of nelson To 11Sa