THE HAMPSHIRE COUNTY FARM BUREAU MONTHLY 



Concluded from Page 1 



rious sections of the country and it 

 is almost certain that for the next 

 season it will provide for sectional 

 distribution on the basis of this sur- 

 vey. It is also almost certain that 

 few growers will be allowed all 

 which they are accustomed to have. 

 For example, in Aroostock where 

 the potato growers are in the hab- 

 it of applying a ton to ihe acre 

 there is probability of this amount's 

 being reduced to a thousand pounds. 

 This is based on the theory that 

 while the second thousand fully re- 

 pays its cost, it does not yield so 

 great a return as the first thous- 

 and. New England, not considered 

 of supreme importance in agricul- 

 ture, is likely to find greater diffi- 

 culty in securing fertilizer than 

 the states in the West. Prof. Has- 

 kell's advice to the growers was 

 "Get what you can, when ana 

 where you can." 



The speaker deploreji the custom 

 of allowing land to lie fallow over 

 the winter, saying that the waste of 

 soil goodness in a spring wind- 

 storm is uncalculable. He prophe- 

 sied the immediate resort to cover 

 crops to prevent this waste, and 

 recommended rye and timothy for 

 that purpose. 



The labor question promises to 

 become more acute. There is a 

 tendency in the northern states to 

 encourage the importation of ne- 

 groes from the South and wherever 

 this has been done it has seemed to 

 be of mutual advantage. However, 

 if the practice should increase we 

 must expect Jim Crow cars, schools, 

 et cetera to follow, and it is ques- 

 tionable whether in the long run it 

 is desirable from th standpoint of 

 either whites or blacks. 



The matter of transportation 

 will be a serious factor in the ag- 

 riculture of the next year or so. The 

 demand of the military department 

 upon the railroads is certain to af- 

 fect industrial accommodation tre- 

 mendously. Fertilizer companies ; 

 cannot afford to ship partially nil- ■ 

 ed cars, and buyers may well plan { 

 their orders in such a way as to se- 

 cure full carload lots. The diffi- 

 culty of getting hemp from India or 

 money to India has caused a big in- 

 crease in the cost of bags and tne 

 fertilizer companies are considering 

 shipping their product in 200 lb. , 

 bags this winter. j 



In spite of the gloomy outlook for 

 the immediate future Prof. Has- 

 kell foresaw better times ahead, in 

 view of the fact that the present 

 exigencies are promoting new meth- 

 ods of manufacture. It is highly 



probable that in a few years we 

 shall be securing our commercial ni- 

 tiogen from the air and phosphoric 

 acid from rock phosphates without 

 the use of sulphuric acid. Such 

 methods will both increase the sup- 

 ply and reduce the price. 



POTATOES IN MAINE 



Agent MacDougall has recently 

 spent two days in Presquo Isle, in 

 the famous Aroostock county, Maine, 

 and some of the practices of the 

 growers there may be of interest to 

 local farmers. 



In the first place, they use a three 

 year rotation of oats, clover and po- 

 tatoes, sowing the clover with the 

 oats, and the second season cutting 

 off one crop of clover for hay and 

 turning the rowen under for green 

 manure. The oats are threshed and 

 sold as grain. The rotation has two 

 important functions: It tends to 

 eliminate soil troubles peculiar to 

 the potato and it furnishes an im- 

 portant element of the fertilizer ap- 

 plication. Clover not only serves as 

 a splendid green manure but it has 

 the property of all legumes, name- 

 ly of taking nitrogen from the air 

 and making it available for the 

 crop. Of course the clover does not 

 furnish all the plant food necessary 

 and the growers are in the habit of 

 adding a ton of commercial fertiliz- 

 er per acre for the potato crop, but 

 none for the oats and clover. The 

 results of generous fertilization and 

 regular rotation appear in the yields 

 which average from 275 to 300 bu- 

 shels per acre. Besides being im- 

 pressed by the large yields of pota- 

 toes in Aroostock, one is almost 

 overwhelmed by the acres and acres 

 of clover. Two weeks ago the clover 

 was just in blossom, and in all tho 

 towns visited the air was filled with 

 its fragrance. Without question 

 the clover is one of the most, if not 

 the most, important factor In the 

 production of large yields of pota- 

 toes. 



In the second place, the farmers 

 spray as a matter of course. Begin- 

 ning the first of July they spray at 

 least once a fortnight until the 

 vines break down in September. 

 They mix their own material at the 

 rate of 7 lbs. hydrated iime and 5 

 lbs. copper sulphate (and poison 

 spray as long as the bugs bother) to 

 .50 gallons of water. They keep the 

 stock solution in the fields, usually 

 in two barrels on a platform beside 

 a well, so that the spray may be 

 mixed and run into the tank with- 

 out lifting. The sprayers are two- 

 horse machines and never have a 

 capacity of less than 100 gallons. 



Raising potatoes on a large scale, 

 they have to be prepared to store 

 them until such time in the winter 

 as it is desirable to ship. Late In 

 August the buyers cover the terri- 

 tory in much the same way as onion 

 and tobacco buyers canvas the Con- 

 necticut valley, and most of the 

 growers sell to them under agree- 

 ment to ship as desired. The pos- 

 session of their own store-houses 

 makes the growers independent of 

 the buyers, however, and many hold 

 back their crop when they believe 

 that the market warrants it. Last 

 year, inrfr^ad of allowing the dealers 

 to profit by the large increase in 

 price as was the case with onions in 

 the Conrecticut valley, the potato 

 growers held and sold in the spring 

 at an ncrease over the fall price of 

 approximately $5.00 a barrel. In- 

 cidentally the only potatoes already 

 feold this season were a few for seed. 

 The storage house is so built that 

 the wagons, hung low, by the way, 

 to insure ease in loading, can drive 

 in on one level, unload through the 

 floor into bins below, and load up 

 from the lower level when it is time 

 to ship. A side hill is useful In 

 building such a storage house. Al- 

 though there are stoves for heating 

 in case of an emergency, they are 

 seldom used, for the walls are us- 

 ually stone or cement and boarded 

 up inside, thus forming an air par- 

 tition and a non-conductor of heat 

 and cold. When taking the potatoes 

 to the trains, the men .sometimes 

 cover the load with canvas and put a 

 lantern underneath to moderate the 

 temperature. The houses are built 

 to hold 1000 to 2000 barrels. 



Aroostock is a comparatively new 

 agricultural section, the railroad 

 -iiaving come in only 25 years ago. 

 The topography is rolling and the 

 soil a gravel loam with no large 

 stones but many small ones. Help 

 is expensive in Maine, running at 

 present from $3.00 to $3.50 a day 

 and dinner, and promising to exceed 

 $4.00 during the harvesting season. 

 As one would expect, as much work 

 as possible is done by machine. The 

 crop is usually hoed once by hand, 

 but the horse rid.gers, cultivators and 

 ' spades do the rest. The ridging 

 ; begins as soon as the potatoes have 

 appeared and is kept up consistent- 

 I ly until the last cultivation. The 

 [rows are from 32 to 36 inches apart. 

 The farmers select their seed pota- 

 toes most carefully and treat them 

 thoroughly with corrosive subli- 

 mate or formalin. At normal times 

 it costs about $1.00 to grow a bar- 

 rel of potatoes and $.35 to get it to 

 Boston; this year the expense runs 

 higher. 



