OF INTEREST TO FARMERS

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XLII, Issue XLII, 12 June 1907, Page 4

OF INTEREST TO FARMERS

SOME HINTS ON POTATO-GROW- ' ■ ING. I Potatoes are grown successfully on J nany kinds- of soil, but a sand of good 'oody" or a medium' loam is best adipted for the crop. With rega'.d to :heir place, in the rotation there is no . ixed rule. Occasionally they are grown after "seeds," which, as « preparatory crop, has many points ill its ' favour. The decaying vegetable matter furnished by the sod is valuable, not only as a source of food for the plant, but also on account of its bflneflcial influence on the physical condition of the soil. The habits of the plant demand a good tilth. The land therefore, should bo ploughed deeply in autumn, and cross-ploughed, if possible, in early spring. The success or failure of the crop largely depends on the character of the seed tubers. In many parts it is the practice to plant small tubers, the bigger ones being sold for cooking purposes. There is considerable diversity of opinion as to the best size of seed to plant ; some rtefer large tubers, whilst others assert that equally good results will be obtained from small ones. In discussing their .cropping capabilities, two kinds of small potatoes must be considered : (1) the late formed tubers of strong, robust plants ; and (2) the produce ol plant* of low vitality. If the bulk of tho seed consists of the former, then quite satisfactory results will be obtained, as the tubers are small simply oil account of their having had insufficient time to ■;-each full size; the remainder of the seed, however, may be small, stunted produce of weakling plants, and from such only weakling tubers can be expected, practically all of which will fall into the seed class. Whilst it may be possible, therefore, to obtain a good crop the first year from small seed, owing to the likelihood of its being made up largely of tubers formed late in the season, the chances , are that if seed from the same stock be used for a number of years in succession, thece will be an ever-increasing proportion of the produce of weakling tubers, with the result that the returns will become more and more unsatisfactory. Experiments have shown that whole tubers, about the size of a hen's egg, generally prove the most profitable far planting purposes. Should the supply of whole seed run short it is unwise to make good the deficiency by cutting seed-size tubers. No reduction in yield, however, need be feared from sets obtained by cutting large tubers. With this class of cut sets the weight planted per acce may be considerably greater than when seed-size potatoes are planted whole, but, on the other hand, the produce will generally contain a less proportion of "small" than the produce of whole seed. Planting should be done soon after cutting, and the sets covered in with as little delay as possible. Exposure even during the dinner hour may be sufficient materially to reduce the yield from cut Sets. When, however, it is necessary to prepare seed some days in advance of planting, the tubers, as soon as cut, should be dipped into finely-powdered lime. The effect of the lime is to form a "scab" over the wet surface of the set, which prevents, or, at any rate, considerably retards, evaporation , of moisture. Too much stress can hardly be laid on the importance of this point. New seed is unquestionably more diseaseiresisting than seed that has been, grown on tile Same farm for a number of years, and to secure the biggest crops, apart altogether from the question of disease, it would seem to be necessary to introduce new seed frequently. drlrie; ttic past four years different methods of storing seed have been tested, and the practicability of growing in the later districts considerably larger crops than formerly has been clearly demonstrated. By a method which has been largely adopted for some years by the growers of early potatoes, seed-sizo tubers u.'e placed in the autumn in shallow boxes, containing no soil or other material, and stored throughout the winter in tiers in a cool, well-ventilated, and welllighted shed. From time to time the order of the boxes in the tiers should be reversed, so as to ensure an equal amount of light to all the potatoes. This treatment leads to the "greening" of the tubers and the development of short, sturdy green sprouts. It is a method, however, that involves a good deal of labour at a time when work presses, and, further, accommodation for boxes is often lacking on farms at this season of the year. Success or failure in potato-growing is determined largely by the choice of variety. The seed may bo in firstclass condition, the soil and manures may be the same for all, and yet one variety may yield tons less per acre than another. In testing varieties of potatoes it is especially important that the stock from which the seed for, the test is drawn should have been grown under the same soil and climatic | conditions. Disease-resisting power is a most important consideration, and so also is the natural tendency of the variety to form tubers the bulk of which are big j enough to put upon the market as wai.-e. I This, fortunately, can be controlled i to a certain extent by. using cut sets. Then, again, choice of variety must be governed by the demand of the market. Probably no crop grown on the farm receives more manure than the potato crop. Although, in most cases, the plant responds readily to liberal manuring, it is doubtful if it is a greedier feeder than other "fallow" crops. It should be borne in mind that the largest possible crop is not always the most profitable, and that an excess of manurial ingredients over the requirements of the crop may lead to considerable waste. It may be argued that any such excess will benefit future crops, but the farmer wants the highest possible return on the first crop — "residual value" being generally a more or less doubtful asset. In manuring potatoes a certain amount of dung is always beneficial. It may be applied at different periods of the year, but most experiments show '■ that spvitig applications give the best results. The most common system of manuring potatoes is to apply a moderate dressing of dung — say about ten tons per acre — and supplementing with artificials. In the use of the latter along with dung caution is necessary ; it is believed that artificials are frequently applied in excess of the requirements of the crop, and that, in consequence, smaller profit we obtained than when more economical methods are followed. The following mixture of artificials per acre may be recommended as a safe and reliable one under most circumstances : — lcwt sulphite of ammonia, 2cwt. superphosphate, lcwt. sulphate of potash — "N.Z. Herald."