POTATOES.

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume VI, Issue 3, 15 March 1913, Page 307

POTATOES.

SELECTION AND STORAGE.

T. W. Lonsdale.

The time is opportune for a few words regarding the selection and storage of potatoes from which next season’s crop will be raised. Many growers lift and cart the whole of the crop direct to the shed, . the tubers being afterwards sorted as time permits. When stored in this promiscuous way the tubers heat, thus causing them to send out long spindly shoots which are easily broken off. These shoots, being the first, should also be the strongest; later shoots will not produce good plants. Moreover, by allowing the clamp to heat, a great many potatoes fail to germinate, with the result that, instead of an even crop, numerous blank places occur.

When lifting the crop, selection. of seed should receive immediate attention. This is best done by observing which plants produce the most marketable tubers, and if these are true to type of their variety, select seed from , these plants and discard those which give an uneven and light yield.

The tubers should then be placed in shallow boxes where the light and air can freely reach them. The eyes start into growth slowly, and the shoots themselves are short and not easily broken. When planted they grow away without any check, and time is saved which, in a season of growth as short as that of the potato, is most important.

Numerous experiments have shown that the selection and sprouting of the tubers give an increased yield. Should not every grower, therefore, aim at producing the utmost on the land he cultivates.?