92 One Thousand Questions in Agriculture 



Cutting Potatoes to Single Eyes. 



Some say only one eye to a piece; others say several eyes — zvhich is 

 better? 



In one experiment potatoes cut to single eyes witli each piece 

 weighing one-sixteenth of an ounce yielded 44 bushels to the acre, 

 while single eyes on two-ounce pieces yielded 177 bushels to the acre. 

 Experiments in Indiana showed that the yield usually increased with 

 the weight of the set and that the exact number of eyes per cutting 

 is relatively unimportant. 



Potato Scab. 



Can potatoes be treated in any zvay before planting to prevent the 

 new ones from being what is called "scabby"? 



There are two successful treatments for scab in potatoes. One 

 is dipping in a solution of corrosive sublimate. Dissolve one ounce 

 in eight gallons of water and soak the seed potatoes in this solution 

 for one and one-half hours before cutting. This treatment kills the 

 scab spores which may be upon the exterior of the potatoes. More 

 recently, however, to avoid danger in handling such a rank poison 

 as corrosive sublimate, formaldehyde has been used, and one pint of 

 commercial formaldehyde, as it is bought in the stores, is diluted 

 with thirty gallons of water, and potatoes are soaked in this for two 

 hours. Thirty gallons of this dip ought to treat about fifty bushels 

 of potatoes. 



Double-Cropping with Potatoes. 



/ am told that here tzvo crops of potatoes can be raised by planting 

 the second crop in August. I have live acres zvhich ivill be ready to dig 

 in July. Can I dig these potatoes and use them for seed at once for an- 

 other crop, or zvon't they grozv? I have a crop of barley, and as it is 

 heading out nozv, I zvanf to put potatoes on the ground after I take the 

 barley off. I have plenty of water to irrigate. 



If your potatoes ripen in July and you allow those which you 

 desire for seed to lie upon the ground and become somewhat green- 

 ish, they are likely to sprout well for a second crop. They should 

 not, however, be planted immediately. Whether you get a second 

 crop successfully or not depends upon how early the frosts come in 

 your, district. Whether you get potatoes after barley or not depends 

 also upon how much moisture there remains in the soil. By irrigat- 

 ing thoroughly after harvesting the grain and then plowing deeply 

 for potatoes, you would do vastly better than to plant in dry ground 

 and irrigate afterward. 



When to Plant Potatoes. 



/ have been puzzled to understand potato grozving in California. 

 Do you have more than one cropping season, and if so, about zvhat dates 

 are they due? 



Every month in the year potatoes are being put into the ground 

 and being taken out of the ground somewhere in California. We 



