POTATO GROWING. 



Five bulletins relating to potato culture have been issued by this 

 Station. Bulletins 130, 140, 156 and 196 record results secured on 

 the Station grounds and 191 results of co-operative experiments 

 under the university extension movement. These bulletins have 

 had a wide reading and requests for them are still numerous. Some 

 of them, however, are now^ out of print and it is decided, instead of 

 reissuing the separate numbers, to combine into a new bulletin a 

 summary of the data contained in them, with such new data as has 

 accuinulated. The aim is to present a logical expository bulletin on 

 potato culture, using the experimental data to illustrate and enforce 

 the statements made. 



Soil. Potatoes grow on a wide range of soils, but those in which 

 either sand or clay largely predominate are not desirable. Potatoes 

 prefer a cool, moist, mellow soil, and it must be well drained either 

 naturally or artificially. These conditions can usually be secured in 

 a sandy or gravelly loam, if rightly managed. There should be 

 enough coarse material in the soil to insure friability and enough 

 silt or clay to insure water-holding capacity. An abundant supply 

 of humus is desirable in soils of any grade. It helps to make the stiff 

 soils more permeable and friable, and the loose soils more retentive 

 of moisture. In both it is an important source of plant-food, while 

 its presence favors the bringing of the minerals of the soil into avail- 

 able condition. 



The physical texture of light soils is favorable for potatoes and if 

 suitably fertilized they will produce larger crops than heavy soils. 

 This is shown by the variety tests recorded near the end of this 

 bulletin. The potatoes grown on light or medium soils are also 

 usually of superior quality to those grown on heavy soils. An 

 interesting illustration of this occurred near the University the past 

 season. A field having a mellow loamy soil on one part and changing 

 to rather a heavy clay loam on another was planted to potatoes. 

 The whole field was well fertilized and tilled, the different soils being 

 treated alike. It chanced that the first potatoes to be harvested were 

 taken from the area having the lighter soil. These potatoes were 

 furnished to customers who pronounced them of excellent quality 

 and at once placed orders for their winter's supply. These orders 

 were filled with potatoes taken from the area having the heavy soil 



