FARMERS' INSTITUTES. . 57 



NEW HELPS IN POTATO GROWING. 



M. L. DEAN, AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE. 



To successfully grow potatoes of tbe best quality the soil should be 

 a sandv loam, well filled with vegetable matter and worked to a fine 

 tilth. 



Clover is an ideal crop to precede potatoes. The ground should be 

 plowed as early in the spring as practicable, thoroughly worked till 

 planting time, which should be about May 1st for early and June 1st 

 for late sorts. 



Coarse manure should not be applied, because it has a tendency to 

 dry the soil and also promotes the growth of fungus diseases. 



Mark the ground with furrows four to five inches deep and three 

 and a half feet apart. Drop and cover the seed with three to four 

 inches of fine soil. 



The seed should be selected at digging time, from hills that are the 

 most productive of uniform, medium-sized tubers. 



Great care should be given the seed to preserve the vitality, by pre- 

 venting the tubers from sprouting. This can be done by burying the 

 seed safely from danger of frost, in pits on the north side of buildings 

 or by keeping it in cool damp cellars. 



Before cutting the seed it should be soaked GO to 90 minutes in a 

 solution of corrosive sublimate, two ounces to sixteen gallons of water. 

 The solution should never be put in- metal receptacles, but a barrel or 

 tub can be used. Place the potatoes in a burlap or coarse sack and 

 suspend them in the solution the desired time. 



A medium-sized tuber cut twice lengthwise and one piece in each hill 

 generally gives the best results. 



To aid in the growing of strong, healthy vines, and as a preventive 

 against the attack of'tip burn, early leaf blight and true potato blight, 

 the vines should be sprayed with Bordeaux Mixture several times dur- 

 ing the growing j^eriod. Paris green can be added for combating the 

 Colorado beetle. 



Thorough, shallow, level culture should be strictly adhered to. Plant- 

 ers or diggers are not practical except where potatoes are grown on a 

 commercial scale. 



DISCUSSION. 



Q. How do you prepare the soil for the potato crop? 



M. L. Dean: Plow early, cultivate and harrow thoroughly, make the trenches six 

 inches deep., cover at the outset three to five inches, cultivate level. If you plant in hills 

 put the rows three feet apart, and the hills twenty-four to thirty inches. 



Q. How much and what kind of fertilizers do you use on potatoes? 



M. L. Dean: None directly on patatoes. I prefer to fertilize the clover, the sod of 

 which is plowed under for this crop. 



Q. How do you cut the seed? 



M. L. Dean: Select medium-sized potatoes and cut into four pieces. 



Q. How do you treat with corrosive sublimate? 



M. L,. Dean : We use a solution of two ounces of sublimate to sixteen gallons of 



