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GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



July, 1917 



pei'iments unknown to but a few of his most intimate 

 associates; but owing to the present food shortage, 

 and tlie nation-wide campaign to speed up food pro- 

 duction, he decided to give up his discovery for the 

 free use of people everywhere. 



The details of the construction and management 

 of these potato-pens, as described by Hendricl<s, out- 

 line a plan by which any one having access to a 

 plot of ground no larger than a flower-bed can raise 

 all the potatoes needed for an average family for a 

 whole year. The potato-pens may be built eight feet 

 wide by any length, just so they are built strong 

 enough to keep the sides from spreading. Almost any 

 kind of good stout material can be used. If light 

 lumber or boards are used the pen may be braced 

 thru the center with wires. Rich earth and well- 

 rotted manure must be on hand in sufficient quan- 

 tities to fill the pen to the top. 



HOW THE PEN IS BUILT. 



Hendricks' potato-pen is built six feet by eight 

 feet, inside measurement, and six feet high. 



The pen is built as each layer is placed and 

 planted. You can use 1 x 6-ineh boards for the 

 ends and sides, leaving 2% -inch space between the 

 boards for the potato sprouts to come thru. Start 

 the pen with a six-inch layer of dirt. Then mark 

 off the plat a foot apart each way, allowing six 

 inches of space for dirt all around between the outer 

 row of potatoes and the inside of the pen. Plant a 

 potato seed at every cross-line or intersection of the 

 p'.at, 35 hills to the layer of dirt. Then put an inch 

 or two of well-rotted manure over the potatoes and 

 sprinkle well with water. Tlien lay six inches more 

 of dirt and mark off as before; nlant, manure, and 

 water again. Repeat this operation with enough 

 layers to fill the pen to the top. To keep the dirt 

 from falling out of the pen as the layers are placed, 

 (haw up old straw or hay against the cracks or 

 devices. 



As the pen rises, place on the fourth layer of dirt 

 in the center of one side, about two feet above the 

 ground, a " moist tester." Tliis is made of any 

 l)ie(e of timber about the size of the arm, a piece of 

 4 x 4-inch by three feet long, placed so it will pro- 

 trude from the pen about a foot. After the potatoes 

 have been planted three weeks loosen the tester, pull 

 out and run your hand in to determine the moisture. 

 By so doing you will know how much water to use 

 on the pen. After the tester has been once removed 

 this can be repeated once or twice a week. Watch 

 the tester and keep the dirt in proper condition. 

 CONTROL OF MOISTURE. 



The pen should be near a water supply so that it 

 can be well watered during dry weather. It should 

 be watered from the top about twice a week unless 

 rainfall is sufficient. The " moist tester " will al- 

 ways enable the . grower to determine the proper 

 moisture conditions. The top layer of dirt should be 

 sloped gently toward the center, so the ground will 

 ateorb and not shed rain, but care should be taken 

 that mud be prevented from forming on top and 

 baking to a crust. When the earth is dry the mound 

 should be sprinkled on the top and sides. The po- 

 tato-vines will grow to the top and sides of the pen 

 (the nearest way to the light), emerging thru the 

 creTices and concealing the timbers with a coat of 

 green. When the potatoes are matured the pen may 

 be taken down, the potatoes rolled out of the thin 

 covering with a rake, and the material, dirt, and 

 manure saved and used again and again. 



LATE PLANTING POSSIBLE. 



Potato-pens may be started as early and as late 

 as possible, giving potatoes 90 days to mature, ex- 

 cept the early ones. The usual time of planting po- 

 tatoes in the North is from March to June ; but under 

 this method the potatoes may be planted much later 

 than is possible under open field conditions, where 

 the factor of hot dry weather must alwiivs be taken 

 into considei'ation. 



With irrigation and every possible condition of 

 good potato^growing — moisture, ventilation, and 

 drainage — always under his control, the grower is 

 practically certain of his crop. 



In his experiments, Hendricks used the Red River 

 Early Ohios for seed, cutting two eyes to a good- 

 sized piece. This year he is experimenting with other 

 adaptations of his plan, and expects to have some 

 interesting announcements to make by next Novem- 

 ber. Hendricks is backed in his work by a good 

 wife, and his neighbors of 20 years' standing vouch 

 for his honesty and integrity. 



The possibilities of this new method of raising 

 potatoes, in the saving of labor and of land, are 

 amazing to contemplate. When outside conditions 

 are unfavorable the production can be carried on 

 successfully under glass, and shipping from warmer 

 climes made unnecessary. With such a cheap source 

 of food supply within reach of all the people of the 

 earth the specter of famine and the day of high- 

 l)riced foods will become a thing of the past. — San 

 Francisco Bulletin. 



The cuts shown will enable one to under- 

 stand better how tlie pen is built. 



Now, the whole thing- (especially before 

 I g'ot full details as above) seemed to be so 

 much of an impossibility that I submitted 

 it to our Ohio Experiment Station, and be- 

 low is Prof. Thome's letter: 



OHIO ACiRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. 



My dear Mr. Root : — Mr. Green suggests that the 

 "potato-pen" lacks just one thing — an oven under 

 it so that the potatoes will come out ready baked. 



Of course, some potatoes might be grown on the 

 outside of such a pen. Do you remember the 

 strawberry - barrel that was advertised aljout the 

 time you and I began writing about bees ? But the 

 seed planted in the interior would rot, just as it 

 would if buried two or three feet under ground; 

 an'd when it comes to stripping off a quarter acre or 

 such a matter to get good soil to fill the pen, and. 

 carrying the water it would require to keep the 

 crop growing, I beg to be excused. I prefer to 

 grow the potatoes on the soil where it lies. 



Chas. E. Thorne, Director. 



Wooster, Ohio, June 6. 



After a pretty full investigation I am not 

 able to discover that anybody gets any profit 

 out of it. 1 have once given my opinion in 

 print that 4 bushels to the pen would be 

 perhaps nearer right than 40 bushels; but 

 a good friend of mine who was connected 

 with our Ohio Experiment Station in years 

 past has faith to believe that 10 bushels 

 might be taken by means of such an ar- 

 rangementi. There are, perhaps, half a 

 dozen such potato-pens already started in 

 our town of Medina ; and nobody knows how 

 many of them have been built and planted 

 tlu'uout the land as the result of this news- 

 paper sensational clipping. The New York 

 C'oal Co. sent a telegram to Mr. Hendricks 

 in regard to this enormous yield, and I clip 

 the result from the coal company's circular 

 as follows : 



Question 1. How many years have you built 

 these potato-pens ? 



.Vns. Three years with success. 



Question 2. What is the average annual output 

 of p')tato<>s in one of these pens? 



Ans. In a pen 8x8x8 ft. I took out 42 bushels 



