130 



rriR rXNADTAN TTOETir I I, riTT?TST 



May, 1913 



Growing Potatoes on a Commercial Basis 



A. C. Parkzr, Manager St. John's Valley Farm and Fruit Land Co., Burton, N.B. 



P<)T,\'l"0 raising may l)c divided in- 

 to five sections: Selection of fer- 

 tilizer and seed, selection and pre- 

 paration of the soil, time and method of 

 planting, cultivation and spraying, time 

 and method of harvesting. The latter 

 point I covered in an article in The Can- 

 adian Horticulturist last fall. 



While the potato can be grown with 

 fair success on a large variety of .soils, 

 still the ideal potato .soil is a deep, sandy 

 or graxelly loam, with suflicient humus 

 to ensure retention of the necessary sup- 

 ply of moisture. It is from such soils 

 the Ijest quality of potatoes are obtain- 

 ed. The least favorable soil is a heavy 

 clay, wherein the air does not circulate 

 freely. A good clover sod, turned down 

 in the fall, affords a good start for pota- 

 toes. Any sod land is preferable to old 

 tilled land. 



HARROW IN THE FALL 



After ploughing sod land intended for 

 potatoes in the fall, it should have a 

 thorough harrowing. This aids in kill- 

 ing weeds and also aids in the decaying 

 of the old sod. Land harrowed in the 

 fall will be in condition to work in the 

 spring, sooner than that which was not 

 harrowed. 



In the spring, as soon as the land is 

 sufficiently dry to work, it should be 

 thoroughly harrowed. This harrowing 

 should be repeated every four or five 

 days until planting time. In this way 

 the land will get much warmer, and a 

 large proportion of the weeds will be 

 destroyed. 



The harrowing should ' be done with 

 a disk harrow, as any form of a drag 

 harrow brings to the surface too much 

 of the sod. This is undesirable, as it 

 interferes very materially with planting 

 and after-cultivation. 



WHEN TO PLANT 



Planting time varies on different soils 

 and in different seasons. Unless you 

 are growing for the early market, it is 

 not advisable to plant too early. The 

 maiority of our potato growers plant too 

 early. If seed and soil have been pro- 

 perly handled, and the proper method of 

 planting followed, the potat<x;s will be 

 up in from six to eight days. There is, 

 of course, dancer of delaving too late. 



In the Maritiine Provinces probably 

 the best time to plant is the last week in 

 May or the first week in June. Of 

 course, this varies in different .seasons. 

 In some seasons the planting may be 

 done better durinsf the first and second 

 \\eeks in June. I have seen large crops 

 harvested which were planted the first 

 week in July, but this is probably too 

 !atc, as in only an exceotional .season 

 would a t'ood crop be obtained by such 

 late planting. 



.\ny [Mirson growing potat<K?s on a 

 commercial basis siiould have a potato 

 planter. This is a great labor-sa\-ing 

 machine, as it- sows fertili/<-r, drops 

 seed, and covers all at once. There are 

 several good makes of this machine. 

 The A.spinwall is, I consider, among the 

 liest. Anyone growing potatoes on a 

 (-ommerciat basis should not try to get 

 on without one of these machines. 



(Jrcat care should be exercise,d not to 

 plant too deep. A good many potato 

 growers make this mistake. . Potatoes 

 should Ix- planted on top of the ground 

 with only enough earth over them to 

 retain moisture. Two or three inches 

 is sufficient. Some growers advise 

 deeper planting. Potatoes will yield 

 better if planted shallow. When planted 

 deep it is almost impossible to dig them 

 with a digging machine. 



The care with which cultivation and 

 spraying are done goes a long way to- 

 wards determining the size of the potato 

 crop. You cannot reasonably expect a 

 good crop if you do not thoroughly cul- 

 tivate. You must .spray to keep bugs 

 and rust from destroying the leaves of 

 the plants. 



TTSE THE WEEDEK , 



As soon as the plants make their ap- 

 pearance through the ground, we go 

 over them crosswise with a weeder, and 

 scratch them down, very nearly level. 



I wn days later wc go over them again 

 with the horse hoe and cover them up. 

 .\fter three or four days more this should 

 Ijc repeated with an additional cultivat- 

 ion. This kills all weeds and also makvs 

 the young plants strong, stout, and 

 stalky. 



In another week we cultivate and 

 horse hoe again, with the h(jc spread a 

 little at the top. This is repeated in 

 another week or ten days. If the ground 

 is not too dry or weedy or hard, we do 

 not do any more cultivating, but if either 

 of these conditions exist we repeat 

 again. If land h:is been properly work- 

 ed tjefore planting, the fourth cultivation 

 will not be necessary. 



Last year we sprayed with Bordeaux 

 mixture, with arsenate for poisoning, 

 with extra good result. We .sprayed 

 three times, using the regular formula 

 for bordeaux and two pounds of arsenate 

 to forty gallons of spray. This con- 

 trolled the bugs completely, and I did 

 not notice the least bit of foliage injury 

 from it. In iny opinion arsenate is a 

 long way ahead of paris green for des- 

 troying potato bugs. It is almost im- 

 possible to raise potatoes successfully 

 without spraying for rust. Rust is al- 

 most , as bad a scourge on potatoes as 

 the bugs. Rust can be successfully con- 

 trolled by the use of bordeaux mixture. 

 In some .seasons it will be neces.sary to 

 spray six to ten times to control it, but 

 even at ten times, it will pay you for 

 your trouble. 



Celery for the Home Garden 



George Baldwin, Toronto, Ont 



hade for a dav 



Prepare your trench in the following 

 manner: Mark off your ground six feet 

 wide bv the length required to take care 

 of the quantity you intend planting. Dig 

 this out to the depth of eight inches, 

 throwing the earth equally on each side. 

 Fill this eight inches up with good rotten 

 manure and dig it in thoroughly and 

 deeply. To insure its being thorougbly 

 incorporated with the soil tramp all over 

 it and then dig it up again. Then level 

 and rake it over, after which mark off 

 with a string, the three rows, which 

 should be eiehteen inches from each 

 bank, and eighteen inches i between the 

 rows. The rows should run north and 

 south. Next get your plants which 

 should now be about eight inches long, 

 that is, four inches of tops and four 

 inches of roots ; take the shears and clip 

 off about one-half inch of foliage and 

 one-half inch of roots, and then plant 

 eieht inches apart in the rows. Be sure 

 when planting that vou d^ not have the 

 roots turning upwards. Dilable your holes 

 big enough to allow the roots /to go down 

 in their natural position, and above all 

 press the earth very firmly around the 

 roots. Give a good supply of watei; and 



two with boards or 

 paper. 



You can get the plants of the three 

 x'arieties mentioned from seedsmen, but 

 do not leave it too late in ordering. You 

 hal Ix'tter order early than wait until tin- 

 twenty-fourth of May. 



GROW SOME BADI8HE8 



,^long each side of your trench, you 

 have a hill running the whole length 

 probably a foot high. Level this off on 

 top to about eight inches wide and sow 

 radishes, which will mature long before 

 you need the soil for earthing up pur- 

 poses, in fact I get two crops of radishes 

 off these hills. 



CULTIVATION 



From this out (your rows being wide 

 enough) run your hoe through one day, 

 and water the next day. Take off the 

 nozzle and hold the hose down close and 

 give a liberal supply of water. Once a 

 week give t'^e rows a watering with 

 liquid ma'.ure. By the end of July you 

 will ha\i* son"; celery fit to pull. .About 

 the second week of July start the earthing 

 up operations by drawing from the hills 

 on either side and putting about four 

 inches of earth around the stalks. Do 



