DIGGING POTATOES.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXIV, Issue 17734, 6 December 1919, Page 8

DIGGING POTATOES.

A point worth considering is advanced by a correspondent in the Otago "Witness," in reference to the harm, rather than good, which re- ! suits from leaving potatoes overlong in the ground. In the case of many of the main crop potatoes which were planted in good time, it will be found that the bulk of the potatoes are already detached from the stalks, one or two immature tubers near the surface alone deriving any nourishment from the parent plant. It is evident that if this is so the detached potatoes have attained their full growth, so the only gain in weight to be looked for is from a very small portion of the crop, and that portion from its position is in most danger of spore infection. Is it worth, then, Tisking the whole crop for a precarious gain? It depends a deal on the local conditions in regard to labour and the likelihood of blight infestation from near or far away diseased crops. There is, too, the matter whether it is not worth while digging before the land becomes wet and sodden from late autumn rains. It is a moderately easy job lifting potatoes when the soil is dry, in contrast to similar work later in the year. In the matter of keeping potatoes, the early ones, after a few hours' drying in sunny weather, keep every bit as well as those dug later. No hard and fast rules can be adhered to, but every crop may be determined by circumstances.