POTATO CULTIVATION.

Cromwell Argus, Volume L, Issue 2647, 10 November 1919, Page 2

POTATO CULTIVATION.

To my mind the potato needs for its perfect development a dry. fertile, deep, mellow loam, free from large stones, and with a southern aspect, so as to get the full benefit of light and air. Having grown potatoes for sale for the la s t fifteen years, I will, therefore, give a few hints as clcarly and as concisely as I can on the way- I should go to work in order to obtain a large and paying crop. In the first place, a prolific crop cannot bo expected from seed of low vitality. Therefore, • get y-our seed from as far north as you Can. I have always found good, clear, mediumsized sets, two * or three ounces in weight, to be the best for giving a heavy- y-ield. I do not believe in cutting sets if a big crop is wanted. I prefer seed to be on the largo side rather than small. If very short of seed you can cut the round verities, but I contend that whole sets produce a heavier crop, besides being able to withstand disease and cold and drought much better than if they were cut. I am a firm advocate of sprouting all seed potatoes, never mind whether they- be earlies, seconds, or late varieties. At planting time they should- have two or three robust, sturdy sprouts strongly* attached to them, and if possible they- should be the first sprouts. One cannot afford to let the seed tuber waste its nourishment ; it must be deposited in the soil with all its powers intact. An important factor is the intelligent sprouting of seed tubers in getting a great weight of saleable produce per acre. If you are compelled to use poor seed, plant the tubers nearer together in the drills. Tubers meant for seed should be dug up before they are quite ripe. The sprouts that

emerge from the upper end of the tubers are the best, and produce thp heaviest y-ield. I have planted, side by side, seen tubers that have been cut, and whole seed, and seed taken straight from the clamp with its first shoots rubbed off. This experiment, as the manorial conditions aqd the soil type were the same, proved conclusivelythat whole seed carefully prepared was much to be preferred. When vigorous and nicely sprouted seed is used there are ■no missed roots ; every- tuber has an even. chance to burst through the soil simultaneously*, and consequently- one gets an even braid, and, of course, a crop that ripens evenly and digs up well. Sprouted tubers, when the soil conditions are perfect, will catch up with fimsprouted ones that have been planted three weeks before, besides escaping the possibility of a sharp frost. —From “Hearth and Home.”

GREENING AND SPROUTING SEED POTATOES.

"There are thousands of cultivators,’’ writes a correspondent in "The Garden,’' "who green their seed tubers • without knowing why they do so. The greening of seed tubers, when properly done, is a matter of national importance. When the seed tubers ax-e properly exposed to the light from the time of “lifting, chlorophyll forms in the outer skin, and the sprouts which subsequently grow also become well nourished with chlorophyll. There is no waste of strength, but a steady building up of strength. Potatoes from ■ properly greened sets are fit for lifting for eating purposes quite tern days earlier than those from sets wintered in darkened stores. The late Mr. James Clark, the raiser of the famous Magnum Uonum potato, who was personally well known to the writer, greened all his seed tubers, and regarded the process as one of the utmost importance. There is a right way oT doing it. When lifted, the se.d tubers should be fully exposed to the air and sun, if possible, for about e.n hour to get the skin hardened a little. Then they must be removed to an open shed where plenty of light can reach them, be spread thinly on the floor, and turned once. At the end of a month, box the tubers, and until required for planting, expose them to light and air, only excluding frost.

If placed in frames to green, tilt the lights a foot high, and retain them there for a week. I have known many tubers to be burned in frames when the lights have been closed.

“In passing, I would like to say that nearly thirty years ago I stopped all clubbing in Brassicus by using salt and lime—l peck of salt and nearly three pecks of unslaked and powdered lime per square rod os ground—and have never been troubled with it 'since where these ingredients were used in the soil. The lime is best put in during the autumn or early spring, and the salt forked in about a month prior to planting."