WAUPACA POST

March 29, 1894

 

A FEW POINTS ABOUT POTATO GROWING

 

            I know of no plant that responds to extra culture in such degree as the potato.  It is quite true that it does not pay to neglect any crop, but especially foolish is the man who plants potatoes unless he is willing and able to give them tillage when needed.  This may be more true of latitudes south of New England and northern Michigan than in those sections, as the potato delights in a cool climate, and what we lack in favoring climate south of the best potato belt we must make up in tillage.  Much heat  is hard upon potatoes, and drought affects the growth of the tubers in the ground far quicker than it does corn or wheat or hay.  We counteract the effects of lack of rainfall in warm sections of the country by giving such tillage that moisture is retained in the ground, and we especially have to fight all weed growth, as weeds are great pumps for extracting moisture from the soil.  So much for the absolute necessity of good tillage.

            For the main crop of potatoes, seed from the more northern latitudes gives the best results.  The tubers are usually larger and more vigorous, and in cutting, each eye has more meat to feed it when putting forth a sprout.  Northern potatoes do not sprout so quickly in the early spring, and all seed is better if it can be kept unsprouted until placed in the ground.  But I have two cautions with reference to seed from a distance:

            1.  There is always difficulty in getting a variety true to name.  The productiveness of varieties of potatoes varies much, and one may order a favorite variety and get something radically different.  This rarely happens in ordering from seeds men, but seeds men ask a price so much higher than the market one that while a farmer may be willing to order a few bushels, he rarely feels able to get a sufficient amount for extensive field planting.  The usual way is to order from a commission merchant, or buy from a home merchant, and it is not possible to recognize many varieties by the appearance, owing to variations produced by soil and climate and the remarkable similarity of scores of varieties.  In one instance I know of heavy loss to a grower from planting a couple of hundred bushels of seed that was sent under a name that did not belong to it.  In fact, commission men know little of verities.  They class all varieties under three or four popular heads, according to general shape and color.

            2.  Potatoes are easily damaged by heat or frost while stored in cellars, and one may injure his chance for another crop by unwittingly planting damaged seed. Heated seed is especially to be feared, as one can hardly detect the injury until the spindling vines, or total absence of vines, tell him of the mistake he has made in his planting.  If the sprouts and small potatoes that grow in the piles of potatoes have been carefully screened out before the lot is shipped to the grower, he is at the mercy of the shipper.  Much frost causes potatoes to soften and rot after being exposed to heat, but a slight frost damages the eye and causes dark streaks under the skin, while otherwise the tuber appears sound.  I assure the beginner that nothing is more disheartening than heated or slightly frosted seed potatoes.  No extra culture can undo the mischief.  If I seem to emphasize this point too much it is only because I am amazed every year at the carelessness of some about the condition of the seed used, although a poor stand of plants always rewards their efforts.

            Although northern potatoes are best for the main planting, there is another class of seed potatoes that is excellent for early planting.  In the South two crops of potatoes are often raised in the same year.  The seed for the second planting is taken from the first crop, and the second crop is harvested when frost comes. This second crop often consists of rather small tubers, and they make the best early seed that we can obtain. They are barreled by the growers, and can be had of southern commission merchants.  Those that are sent North are quite inferior in size and impress one as being unfit for seed.  Many of the tubers are much smaller than a hulled walnut, and a beginner is inclined to throw them to the pigs and pocket his loss.  But the fact is that these little tubers are full of vitality, often send out only a single sprout, and the vines are rank growers.  They do not set very freely, and the new tubers are ready for market sooner than those grown from northern seed.  As there is often only one stock in a hill, the rows need not be over thirty inches apart, and the hills in rich soil should be about fourteen or fifteen inches apart.  If one has a home market for his crop and earliness is a desirable thing, I venture the assurance that if he will try this second crop seed of an early variety he will have cause to thank the Farm and Fireside for the suggestion.

            It is a difficult matter to advise in regard to varieties.  Some do well in one kind of soil and fail in another.  There are a few general rules, however, to be observed.  The general market usually wants a long potato of the Early Rose, White Star or Burbank type.  In one city all long, white potatoes are called Burbank; in another they are Stars, all depending upon the reputation of those two varieties in the city.  The point for the grower is this:  The blue potato, or the red one, or the rough netter round one is not the one most wanted.  Unless I had a home market for the crop, I would never plant any potatoes of the Blue Victor or Dakota Red types, as I would have to accept a cut on the market price when disposing of them.  It is always best tot grow what the public wants.  This thing of undertaking to educate the public may do very well in a small village market, but it is an utter failure in large towns and cities.

            A round potato is often a better yielder than a long one on thin land.  If it is bright and thin skinned, it will sell very well even in fastidious markets.  The Early Hebron is a potato of this type.  It is a very satisfactory potato.  The Late Hebron is too rough and dark, but is a big yielder.  For quality nothing surpasses the Early Ohio. The Rural New Yorker No. 2 has a vigorous vine and is satisfactory with many.  A score of good round potatoes might be mentioned, but when the soil is good and the crop goes to the city markets, the long white or pink-tinted varieties are preferable,.  Of these there are many good ones, some adapted to one locality and some to another.  The grower should experiment with standard varieties that are new to him, seeking the ones best suited to his soil.

            The chief points that a grower should consider at this time are:  First, a good soil; second, a good seed bed; third, a good variety of potato, and fourth, a perfect stand of vigorous plants.                                                                                                 - Farm and Fireside