1420 



POTATO 



POTENTILLA 



Potatoes are used for market, the smaller ones for 

 seed. Many people prefer this to the seed purchased 

 from Maine or Michigan. The seed is cut to one eye, 

 and about two barrels is necessary to use in planting 

 one acre. Some fanners apply less fertilizer, provided 

 their laud is in good heart or productive condition; 

 some apply a part of the fertilizer at tlie bottom of the 

 drill, and the balance at the side of the row when the 

 dirt is turned away from the row. One good thorough 

 application of Paris green or London purple at the 

 right time destroys the bug, although most farmers 

 have to go over their fields two or more times. 



In digging, most farmers use the common two-horse 

 plow, running the plow under the row and lifting all 

 the Potatoes out, still attached to the vine, as the 

 vine is always green at time of digging, and the Pota- 

 toes are firmly attached thereto. The hands then fol- 

 low and lift up the vines with the Potatoes attached, 

 put the Potatoes in barrels at 10 cents per barrel. 

 Barrels are then headed ups by firmly nailing on a can- 

 vas cover, and placed in farm wagons to be hauled to 

 the city or to some near-by watercourse or railway, 

 for shipment to the great markets in the U. S. east of 

 the Mississippi and north of the Ohio, and all the At- 

 lantic seaboard markets. The cost of barrel is about 

 20 cents each, including the cover. The freight is 18 



1934. Potato-growing in the Dismal Swamp. Va. 



cents per barrel to Baltimore and Washington, 20 cents 

 to New York and Philadelphia, and about 30 cents to 

 Boston. The Potatoes are handled by commission men 

 at the different markets at 8 per cent commission. 



The yield will run from 40 to 60 and even to 80 bar- 

 rels to the acre and the price from $1 to $3 per bar- 

 rel; the yield depending, of course, upon the soil, the 

 season, and the cultivation; the price depending on the 

 old crop on hand, the condition of the consuming masses, 

 whether it is the year of presidential election or not, and 

 the character, condition, and earliness of the Potato 

 sections coming in competition with this section. 



Sometimes the Potato rows are made farther apai't 

 and berries are set in between the rows. Often the Po- 

 tato crop is followed by corn the same season, making 

 two fine staple farm crops from the same land the same 

 .season. Sometimes these second crops of corn are sown 

 full of cow-peas at the last working of the corn, and 

 then such a mass of vegetation is grown that it is almost 

 impossible to turn it under after the corn is harvested. 

 Some of the finest Potato land is found on the margins 

 of the famous Dismal Swamp, a few miles south of Nor- 

 folk, Va. Fig. 193 ^. Whenever the seasons are a little in- 

 clined to be dry, such land turns out the finest and nicest 

 Potatoes to be found anywhere. One grower, wliose f arrrP 

 has been reclaimed from what was once the "Swamp," 

 has raised as high as 2."), 000 barrels in a single season. 

 A navigable arm of the sea ran to within a half mile of 

 his "Potato patch," and a "tram railway" run by mule- 

 power enabled him to put his Potatoes into market as 

 easily and as expeditiously as the man beside him who 

 grew 250 ])arrels. The scarcity of lal)or will eventually 

 compel the use of the improved machinery; and the 



probability is that the acreage devoted to Potatoes is to 

 be lessened instead of increased. A. Jeffers. 



Potatoes in the South. — It is an easy matter to grow 

 an early or spring crop of Irish Potatoes in the South, 

 provided the seed tubers can be had. As the crop 

 matures early, it is almost impossible to keep the tubers 

 over the summer and through the succeeding winter in 

 order to plant in the following spring. Therefore it is 

 a common practice to import seed from the North. This 

 difliculty of keeping the seed Potatoes is obviated if a. 

 second or fall crop is grown; and this fall crop may also 

 be made to afford a staple supply of food. The great- 

 est problem in Irish Potato-growing in the extreme 

 South is the raising of the fall crop, although the matter 

 is not difiicult if a few underlying principles are kept in 

 mind. This article is devoted to the growing of the 

 second or fall crop. 



Under favorable conditions profitable crops are grown 

 in the southern states during late summer and fall. 

 Dry, hot weather frequently prevails during the early 

 part of this period; hence the necessity of having the 

 soil, before planting, in a condition to receive and 

 to retain the greatest amount of moisture. Heating 

 manures or other materials that will cause rapid fer- 

 mentation should not be applied to the soil just at 

 planting time nor during the first month after planting. 

 Land that was thoroughly prepared, highly fertilized 

 and well tilled in some spring crop like cabbage or 

 onions, gives much better results than similar soil 

 broken and fertilized only a short time before plant- 

 ing. Cool, moist, valley lands are better adapted to the 

 fall crop of Potatoes than are the drier, warmer hill- 

 sides. 



Dormant tubers of the previotis year's crop would 

 doubtless insiire the best stand; but, as these are difii- 

 cult to obtain, the majority of growers select seed Pota- 

 toes from the spring crop, which matures two or three 

 months before time to plant the second crop. Some 

 growers prefer to let seed Potatoes remain in the soil 

 where they grew until ready to plant the second crop; 

 others dig as soon as the spring crop is matured, spread 

 the Potatoes thinly over a surface protected from sun 

 and rain, and cover lightly with straw or leaf -mold. 



In latitude 33°, August 1 to August 15 is sufficiently 

 early to plant. If dry, hot weather prevails it is fre- 

 quently advantageous to sprout the tubers before 

 planting; otherwise they may lie in the ground several 

 weeks perfectly dormant. This sprouting, or starting 

 the buds, is easily done by the following method: 

 Spread the Potatoes in a cool, shaded place, cover to 

 the depth of 3 or 4 inches with garden loam, sand or 

 leaf -mold, and keep moist (not wet) for about a fort- 

 night, or until the sprouts are an eighth to a quarter of 

 an inch long. 



As a rule, conditions for starting Potato plants into 

 vigorous growth are much more favorable in the spring 

 than in August. The plantlet must draw its suste- 

 nance from the mother tuber until it is able to imbibe 

 food from the soil; hence the practice of cutting tubers 

 into larger pieces for the summer planting tiian was 

 necessary in the spring seeding. Cover a little deeper 

 than would be proper for spring seeding; otherwise the 

 manner of planting the early and the late crop is the 

 same. With proper care in preparation of land, very 

 little cultivation is necessary. Once the plants are 

 started into vigorous growth (which comes with the 

 advent of cool weather), the crop develops more rap- 

 idly in the fall than in the spring. It is seldom neces- 

 sary to dig before December 1. Keeping qualities are 

 excellent. For table use they are equal to those from 

 spring harvest, or even better the early crop. As 

 seed Potatoes they are preferred for spring planting. 



A. B. McKay. 



POTATO, AIR. Dioscorea hiilhifera. 



POTATO ONION. See Onion. 



POTATO, SWEET. See Swerf Potato. 



POTENTILLA (diminutive of Latin pofcii.'^. power- 

 ful; referring to the medicinal i)n)iiertics). Jios(}ce(i'. 

 ClXQUEFOlL. PiVE-FlNGEli. A large genus of ])erennial, 

 rarely annual, herbs or shrubs found throughout the 



