POTATO 



POTENTILLA 



2771 



The land should be broken with a turn-plow a month 

 or six weeks in advance of planting the potatoes, if the 

 preceding crop in the rotation will admit. It is best to 

 apply the stable-manure to some preceding crop in 

 order that it may be well decayed before the tubers are 

 planted. After the ground is thoroughly harrowed, the 

 rows should be marked out about 3 feet apart. If 

 drainage is not good it is well to open the furrow with a 

 small turning-plow in order to expose a large surface 

 to the action of the sun, air, and frost. A few days 

 before planting, the furrows should be reopened, the 

 fertilizer required distributed in them. It should be 

 thoroughly mixed with the soil to prevent its coming 

 into direct contact with the seed-tubers when they are 

 planted. 



In forcing potatoes, especially in the cooler season 

 of the year, it is customary to use from 1,500 pounds to 

 2,000 pounds of fertilizer analyzing 5 to 6 per cent 

 nitrogen, 6 to 7 per cent phosphoric acid, and 5 per 

 cent potash, to the acre. The potatoes will not use all 

 of this, but that remaining after they are harvested, is 

 available for subsequent crops. About one-third of the 

 nitrogen in the fertilizer should be obtained from nitrate 

 of soda and sulfate of ammonia and the other two- 

 thirds from high-grade tankage, blood, and fish-scrap. 

 By using nitrogen from the sources mentioned, the 

 plants are enabled to obtain a constant supply through- 

 out their growing-season. The phosphoric acid is ob- 

 tained from acidulated South Carolina rock, and the 

 potash, preferably, from sulfate of potash. Some grow- 

 ers apply about 1,000 pounds of the fertilizer in the 

 rows before the tubers are planted and the balance as a 

 side or top dressing when the plants are well started. 



Whether the potatoes are to be planted by hand or a 

 power planter, it is better to apply the fertilizer before 

 planting, as much better distribution may thus be 

 obtained. The larger number of truck-farmers follow 

 the practice of hand planting, but the larger growers 

 are now using horse-power machines. From three to 

 five barrels of northern-grown seed and from two to 

 three barrels of home-grown seed are usually required 

 to plant an acre. The seed-pieces are placed 14 to 16 

 inches apart in the rows and are usually placed from 2 

 to 4 inches below the surface-level of the ground. The 

 hand-planted tubers are covered by turning two fur- 

 rows over them with a small turn-plow, thus forming a 

 ridge 8 or 9 inches high above the tubers. If the discs of 

 the power planter do not form such ridges, it is custom- 

 ary to add additional soil with the plow. These high 

 ridges protect the seed -tubers against unfavorable 

 weather conditions and enables them to develop strong 

 roots before the sprouts appear above the ground, thus 

 insuring rapid development when the season opens. 



As soon as the tubers have formed sprouts an inch or 

 two long, a light harrow is dragged diagonally across the 

 ridges to kill any weeds that may be starting, and to 

 provide a mulch over the row. A second dragging is 

 given a week or ten days later, or just before the 

 sprouts appear above the surface. The first working 

 with the cultivator is given as soon as the plants have 

 the row well outlined; subsequent cultivations are given 

 at intervals of a week or ten days, a small quantity of 

 soil being worked against the plants, thus forming low 

 ridges at the later cultivations. If proper attention is 

 given to the early cultivation, little or no hoe work 

 need be expected. 



The season for harvesting depends more upon market 

 conditions than upon the maturity of the crop. If 

 prices are high, digging may be started when the yield 

 will not be over thirty or forty barrels to the acre, but 

 if prices are moderate with indications for a steady 

 demand, harvesting may be delayed for two or three 

 weeks. In the meantime the yield will have increased 

 from 25 to 50 per cent. 



The crop is usually turned out of the ground with a 

 plow while the vines are still green. The vines are then 



pulled out of the ground with most of the tubers 

 attached. These are carefully pulled from the roots, the 

 others picked out of the loose soil and placed into piles 

 on the ground. The>- are then graded by hand and 

 packed in barrels for shipment. Great care is used in 

 handling the new potatoes to prevent unnecessary 

 bruising. 



Mechanical diggers have not given satisfaction in 

 the trucking region of the South, primarily because 

 they bruise and break the skin, thus causing the tubers 

 to present discolorations when placed on the market. 



T. C. JOHNSON*. 



POTATO, AIR: Dioscorea buOnfera. P. Onion: Onion. P., Sweet: 



Sweet Potato, and Ipomcea Batatas. 



POTENTILLA (diminutive of Latin potens, power- 

 ful; referring to the medicinal properties). Rosaces. 

 CIXQUEFOIL. FIVE-FINGER. A large group of perennial, 

 rarely annual, herbs and shrubs found throughout the 

 North Temperate and frigid zones; somewhat planted. 



Leaves compound: appendages of the calyx 5, borne 

 at the base of the 5 sepals, which in turn are borne 

 upon the edge of a cup-shaped, dry receptacle; stamens 

 10-30, together with the 5 rounded petals inserted 

 upon the margin of the receptacle (perigynous) ; pistils 

 many, in fr. becoming minute achenes; style deciduous. 

 Those in cultivation are all hardy perennial plants 



3157. Potentilla, one of the hybrid garden forms known as P. 

 coccinea; of the P. atrosanguinea group. 



suitable for border planting. The most valuable dou- 

 ble-fld. forms are hybrids. Monograph by T. Wolf, 

 Bibliot. Dot. Heft 71:1908. 



The American potentulas are generally rather unat- 

 tractive plants with small flowers. They are, as a rule, 

 very tenacious of Ufe and do well with ordinary care. 

 P. fruticosa, a handsome and distinct low shrub, pre- 

 fers moist positions, but will grow in even very dry 

 soil. When thoroughly established in moist soil, it is 

 difficult to eradicate. P. argentea should be given a 

 dry soil, preferably about rocks. It is tenacious of life 

 and is rather attractive. P. Hippiana, a western species 

 with comparatively large foliage of decided gray color, 

 is hardy East. It is a good perennial, preferring dryish 



