16 CIRCULAR NO. 113, BUREAU OP PLANT INDUSTRY. 



Cost of 'production . — The following statement gives an estimate of 

 the cost per acre of potato production in the Truckee-Carson Project: 



Rental cost of land $15 



Plowing land 3 



Leveling and harrowing 1 



Seed 15 



Planting 3 



Cultivating 3 



Irrigating, nine times 3 



Digging 20 



Sacks 15 



Marketing 6 



Total cost per acre 84 



Numerous publications have treated of the growing of potatoes 

 under irrigation, and the general principles of successful practice are 

 as applicable to this region as to other Western States, yet ignorance 

 of local conditions invites failure. Some of the special precautions 

 necessary to observe are given below. 



Selection of seed. — No seed containing eelworms, produced either 

 locally or imported, should be planted. Misshapen tubers and even 

 good specimens from poor hills should not be used for seed. Selec- 

 tion of good hills should be made in the field. A man can usually 

 follow a digger and select such hills as yield abundantly and produce 

 fair-sized, well-shaped tubers. Imported Oregon seed stock has been 

 largely used and is considered most desirable by the more successful 

 growers, but careful hill selection of suitable varieties promises better 

 results in increasing the yield, as well as the percentage of smooth, 

 marketable potatoes. 



Selection of land. — New land seldom gives good crops of potatoes, 

 although some of the black tule lands are fairly productive. Gener- 

 ally, only alfalfa land should be planted to potatoes, and the growers 

 should not be satisfied with less than 9 tons (300 bushels) per acre. 

 Either sandy or heavy loams are suitable if properly handled. A 

 little white alkali (sodium sulphate) when present is not noticeably 

 injurious, but the slightest traces of black alkali will injure the growth 

 of the crop. 



Preparing land. — When alfalfa land is to be used for potatoes, the 

 alfalfa should be ''crowned" in late summer or early autumn pre- 

 vious to the year that potatoes are to be grown. By "crowning" is 

 meant cutting off the alfalfa plants about 2 to 3 inches below the 

 surface of the ground. To do this well a sharp plowshare is essential, 

 and the plow must be strong, so that it can not be twisted or broken. 



After plowing, the field should be harrowed, so as to bring the 

 crowns to the surface. If they are buried deeply in the soil they will 



[Cir. 113] 



