POTATOES UNDER STRAW.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1270, 27 October 1911, Page 8

POTATOES UNDER STRAW.

A EI'AKCKA EXPERIMENT. A good deal has been heard of late cf potato-growing under ptraw, the experiment bavins received some attention in Australia. Particulars are r.ow available of a trial carried out at Euakura farm last season. The object, says the Ecprrtment of Agriculture's "Journal," was to demonstrate a mode of producing seed potatoes. It is claimed that a better crop result* from lately gathered immature seed than from that of the usual seed after storage. In CV.aa&i some k>fs have been made of th? use of such seed, and it is slated that ilio immature tuber provided a better sped than the ripened. The trial at Riiakura was carrisd out by the Horticulturist, and the report is lr.ado up from cotes supplied by him. It should he clearlv under.-tood that this is not recommended as .i means of producing a crop for domestic use, but doliaitely for tho purpose described. The variety Gold Coin was selected, on account of tho strong shoots it produces. A control plot (B) was planted under ordinary conditions alongside the experimental plot (A), and both were planted on October 27, 1910, and were treated with the same manure—viz., i-?wt. superphosphate, 3cv.-r. bonednst, lev.t. murinie cf potash, and levt. snlphaie of iron pt r ncro. The manure on plot A was broadcast, and harrowed in; on plot l> it was sou-ii in the drills with tho tubers. In betli ca?os the toil was well wcr!:«d, loose rich sandy loam, an:! tho tubers previously sprouted and greened. ' In" plot A the tubers were planted r.n top ot the ground and covered with 7i:i. of rtra'iV. In plot 1! they were planted iu drills oin. deep .-.: id coverrcl with soil. In plot B th's haulms were above tfio ground three weeks before those in plot A showed through the straw; they therefore received an extra spraying of Bordeaux mixture when Gin. irljh. Later, both plots received two sprayings. A fow traces of blight couid be fcund *m tho haulms in. both plot?, but not sufficient to do harm. In plot B the potatoes ripened during tho end of .February, and were lifted on March 6. the. resultant crop being 9 tons 4cwt. of large and medium-sized, and l'cwt. of "moil, tubers per acre. In plot A the potatoes did not ripen until the end of March, p.:id then unevenly, some of the tops ranainin;- green until the tubers were gathered on April 19, the resultant crop being 7 tons l.'icwt. of medium-sized, and 1 ton Gcwt., of small, tubers. Very few ol the potatr.es from this plot could be classed as large eating potatoes, most.being a good seed sizo and slightly greened. Little can be raid in favour of the method of growing under straw when none but table potatoes -ire required, but for d. catch-crop, when seed only is required, it might be found both a convenient and payable method. In a dry tca.-on tho straw would act as a mulch and keep tho soil moist; there is no cultivation necessary, and the tubers do not require to bo planted in rows, but simply broadcast over tho ground and covered with tho straw. In tho northern districts, where a e.econd crop i≤ planted in the tine reason, to supply seed for the following year, this method, besids being simple, would no doubt bo found to answer well.