June, 1913. 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



155 



Modem Garden Tools Make Thorough Cultivation a Much More Simple Operation than Formerly 



If fifty-six pounds of lime becomes 

 water-slaked it will weigh seventy-four 

 pounds, and if air-slaked it will weigh 

 more. That is to say, fifty-six pounds of 

 quicklime for agricultural purposes is 

 worth about seventy-four pounds of 

 water — slaked or hydrated Ijme ; one 

 hundred pounds of ground limestone or 

 one hundred pounds of old air-slaked 

 lime, if applied for other purposes than 

 to neutralize or sweeten sour soils. 



If quicklime, usually in lumps, has not 

 been ground fine, it is better to water- 

 slake it before trying to apply it. Enough 

 water should be used to convert it to a 

 dry powder and no more, for a sticky 

 water-laden mass cannot be applied . The 

 best time to apply lime is in the fall or 

 early spring, at least some time should 



elapse between its application and a 

 heavy application of fertilizer. 



It is imfHDSsible to say how much lime 

 should be applied to a certain area, for 

 much depends upon the condition in 

 which it is found. Market gardeners are 

 very large users of lime, and for a rea- 

 son. Where lime is used every five or 

 six years, one or two tons per acre 

 should be sufficient on most soils. This 

 practice is to be recommended over very 

 heavy applications once in a lifetime. 



The points to be recommended are : 

 Many soils need lime ; lime is not a fer- 

 tilizer; when lime is needed it is used 

 with much profit ; fertilizers cannot im- 

 prove sour soils if said fertilizers are 

 neutral or acid. 



thod is to use 

 formalin in- 

 stead of the 

 sublimate, one 

 ounce of forma- 

 lin to two gal- 

 lons of water. 

 This treatment 

 of the seed, to- 

 gether with a 

 judicious rota- 

 tion of crops, 

 is sufficient per- 

 manently to 

 control this di- 

 sease. 



In cutting 

 the seed, cut 

 them to one or 

 tw'o eyes, leav- 

 ing a large 

 piece of tuber 

 for the young 

 sprouts to gain 

 nourishment 

 from until they 

 are able to ob- 

 tain some from 

 the soil. If cut 

 some time be- 

 fore planting, 

 air-slaked lime 



Growing Potatoes for Profitable Results 



M. B. Davis, B.S.A., Manager Sunnyside Farm, Ltd., Ridgetown, N.S. 



Good seed is the first essential in 

 growing a profitable crop of potatoes. 

 The seed for next season should be care- 

 fully selected from your own field if you 

 have a good clean crop. Select the 

 smoothest and most uniform tubers from 

 heaviest yielding and healthiest plants 

 in the field. These tubers will give you 

 larger yields than those procured from 

 the store at random. It pays to pay 

 attention to this part of the potato busi- 

 ness. In case, however, you have not 

 been able to obtain seed which you know 

 to be free from the potato scab, it is 

 advisable to use preventive measures 

 from the strat. The scab is a disease 

 infecting the tubers of the potato plant, 



and a single scabby seed potato or even 

 one which is clean but which has been 

 in contact with a scabby one, may ruin 

 ;i whole crop. The disease may per- 

 petuate itself by remaining in the soil 

 or it may be carried to new ground on 

 a potato bearing the spores of the dis- 

 ease. It is not practical to sterilize or 

 disinfect the soil, but it is practical an<l 

 possible to do so with the tuber, and if 

 the clean or disinfected seed is planted 

 on new ground the disease may be con- 

 trolled. To disinfect the seed, immerse 

 them in mercuric bichloride (corrosive 

 subliminate) for two or more hours, using 

 one ounce of mercuric bichloride to eight 

 gallons of water. Another effective me- 



sprinkle a quantity of 

 over them. 



Land which has been heavily manured 

 the previous year is preferable for the 

 potato crop. Commercial fertilizers have 

 given excellent returns with the potato, 

 but whether or not they can be used to 

 advantage without the addition of some 

 manure, depends on the texture and on 

 the amount of humus contained in the 

 soil. If your land has been previously 

 well manured, so that it is light and 

 friable, fertilizers alone will be best to 

 use. The following is a good formula 

 for potatoes : Two hundred and fifty 

 pounds of nitrate of soda, three hundred 

 and fifty pounds acid phosphate, and 

 two hundred pounds of muriate of potash 

 per acre. 



The soil should be well prepared. Have 

 the land in thorough shape before plant- 

 ing. By constant discing and harrow- 

 ing you pulverize the soil, thus increas- 

 ing the amount of surface at the dis- 

 posal of the roots. This means more food 

 for them and hence a larger crop. 



In planting, the furrows are best open- 

 ed with a double mould-board plow and 

 the seed dropped about fourteen inches 

 apart in the furrow. They may be cov- 

 ered with the same implement to a depth 

 of four or five inches, levelling off after- 

 wards with a smoothing harrow. If the 

 ground should harden before the sprouts 

 show, run a weeder over it to break the 

 crust. 



.As soon as the plants are a few inches 

 high start cultivation, cultivating deep 

 and wide at first, taking care subse- 

 quently not to injure the roots. 



