The Delta independent., 1923-03-16
THE POTATO CROP IN 1923
BY o. B. WHIPPLE

BY o. B. WHIPPLE
We have no way of telling, so we
shall not attempt to predict, what the
year has in store for the potato grow
er. We know we have had two bad
years and it is possible we may have
another. One thing is certain, how
ever, and that is that very few farm
ers got rich gambling on potatoes. 1t
is something like oil, only few are
lucky. The grower who makes sue
cess of potatoes is the one who grows
consistently, about so many acres
each year. Weather conditions the
the success or failure of the potato
crop. With the same acreage we may
have one year a short crop and the
next year over-production. Until
such time as we can regulate the
weather, we are bound to have finan-
cially speaking, good and poor years
in potato growing. Add to this china
tic uncertainty the gambling spirit
which so frequently takes hold Of the
farmer who dabbles in potatoes, and
you have a hard combination for the
| itdl DOldlO SIOWSl- 1LihC INC CiO'aSoA
| boy, his life is made up chiefly of ups
and downs, but we still insist that the
grower who makes money is the real
potato grower, the one who grows
| about so many acres of potatoes each
year and there is a reason. Potatoes
are not successfully grown without
some forethought. Without well plan
ned rotations, the grower does not
get maximum yields from his land
nor can he hope to grow disease-free
potatoes. Without some forethought
good seed cannot be had for planting
In these two respects the potato gam
bier is handicapped. When he gets
his hunch that potatoes are going to
| be high, his land is not always in the
best shape for potatoes and he often
must buy seed, or at least does buy
seed He not only CANDLES on the
price at which potatoes will sell in
the fall. but he CANDLES on soil; he
CANDLES on SEED. and in our particular
case, he CANDLES on the ability of the
railroad to get the crop to market. He
has four perfectly good chances to
| lose. His hunch may be wrong and
the price low: his land may not be
sufficiently fertile or free from dis.
ease to produce a profitable crop; his
seed may prove bad and give only a
half crop of inferior quality: or car
shortage or some other element of
railroad inefficiency may hamper the
movement of the crop while there is
| market Better get into the ranks
| ,l is n nrnf.
table occupation if taken seriously.
1t is an interesting study, you are
playing fair with your fellow grower
and safer with the railroad
Crop rotations are of Importance to
the grower in three respects. First,
proper rotations mean fertile soil and
fertile soil, maximum yields. good
yield more than anything else will
lower the cost of production and this
is the farmers problem today. Proper
rotations are very important in com
batting potato diseases. These diseas
es live from one year to another in
potato soils and in frequent cropping
with potatoes, the grower is counting
| trouble, and last but not least. proper
rotations improve the soil physically
we may say. and tend to give the po
tato crops of better quality. In other
words, friable or easily titled soils
produce potatoes of better form and
general appearance than heavy worn
out soils and these so far as the mar
ket is concerned. are the characters
tics symbolical of quality in potatoes
| A good potato rotation should in
clude some nitrogen gathering croI
like alfalfa. red or sweet clover. Nitro
gen encourages good vine growth ant
this favors a high yield of tubers
These crops also improve the soil by
adding vegetable matter and this lib
crates other plant foods and makes
the land water and cultivate more
easily. A fine system of cropping
would be what is called five year ro
tation. Plant potato land to grain and
| alfalfa, cut the alfalfa two seasons
plow up and grow potatoes one sea
| son. beetS one season and then reseed
to grain and alfalfa If one has plenty