THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



821 



gation should be followed by shallow cultivation to break up 

 the crust until the vines get so large they interfere. 



Potatoes should not be irrigated until after the young 

 tubers are set on the vines, though where the season is so 

 dry they burn, it may be necessary to irrigate at any time. 

 The tubers usually set a week or ten days bofere the plants 

 begin to bloom. Deep ditches should be made with a double 

 plow, between the rows, and the first watering should be very 

 light. Run the water in the alternate rows and in a week or 

 ten days run a good head quickly through the rows which 

 were not irrigated before. This should be followed in from 

 a week to twelve days with a thorough soaking up of the 

 ground, running the water between each of the rows, but do 

 not let it stand too long. Water should never come in contact 

 with the crowns of the plants. If a large crop is the principal 

 consideration, the potatoes should be irrigated once in a week 

 or ten or twelve days through the season after starting, as 

 indicated above. They must not be allowed to get dry 

 enough to check their growth. After the growth becomes 

 checked once, new irrigation will start second growth, which 

 produces large vines, new setting of tubers or knotty, ill- 

 shaped potatoes. If it can be avoided, irrigation should not 

 be done when the weather is hot and sultry. 



Farmers who make a business of potato raising follow 

 a regular system of rotation in which alfalfa is the crop used 

 to bring back the soil fertility. Potatoes do well on sod land 

 and one or two crops may be raised. This should be followed 

 with a crop of grain, and if the soil conditions are favorable, 



John Gordan and His Dry Farm Potatoes, Wyoming. 



alfalfa may be sown with the grain. The alfalfa is left in 

 the ground two or three years. It is then plowed late in 

 spring after the alfalfa plants have started. This plowing is 

 difficult and must be thoroughly done. The deep cultivation 

 immediately after plowing will pull out the principal roots 

 and prevent their interfering with future cultivations or ditch- 

 ing for irrigation. Such alfalfa ground may be kept in 

 potatoes two years if disease does not appear, and then put 

 l>ack into alfalfa with grain. Field peas are an excellent 

 crop to rotate with potatoes in dry farming or under irriga- 

 tion. Plowing under a light crop of peas in Wyoming in- 

 creased the potato crop thirty-one dollars per acre. Potato 

 ground is usually in fine condition for any following crop. 



Potatoes may be grown without the use of special ma- 

 chinery, but if any acreage is raised, it is economy to have 

 the best equipment. There are a number of planters on the 

 market. Some of the different makes are the Robins, Aspen- 

 wall, Superior, Evans and Excelsior. Digging may be done 

 with a potato plow, which has fingers behind, which are 

 worked by a shaker, or with the larger machines, like the 

 Doubon or Brown. The potatoes may be sorted by hand when 

 picked up, or all picked into a basket and run over a wire 

 screen sorter. Where the potato beetles are troublesome, it 

 is necessary to have some form of spraying machine to treat 

 with Paris Green. 



Potatoes are usually left in the ground some time after 

 frost has killed the vines in the fall. This helps to ripen 

 and dry out the tubers. They should be harvested before 

 the ground begins to freeze. Where the potatoes are green, 



care should be exercised in handling and a sorter should 

 not be used. If they are to go to market at once they are 

 sorted and sacked in two bushel sacks. If they are to be 

 held for a short time and a root cellar has not been prepared, 

 they may be pitted in the field. Do not dig deep pits, but 

 smooth off the ground, put the potatoes in as steep a pile as 

 possible, cover first with straw or vines and then with enough 

 soil to prevent injury by frost. Leave a small space at top 

 of pile not covered with the soil for the escape of the heat 

 and moisture given by piled potatoes. Potatoes stored in this 



A Good Potato Crop. 



way will keep until the weather gets quite cold. Where root 

 cellars are used, the potatoes are usually piled in loose, and 

 kept as cool as may be without danger of freezing. 



Often our potatoes grow to very large size, single tubers 

 weighing five and siz pounds not being uncommon. These 

 very large potatoes are not desired in the market. The best sale 

 is found for a medium-sized potato which will give from sixty 

 to seventy-five potatoes per bushel of sixty pounds. Such 

 potatoes are desired by hotel and restaurant-keepers for 

 baking purposes. The farmer who properly grades his produce 

 will always find ready demand and good prices. Uniformity 

 in size and color, freedom from scab, crack or dirt, shallow 

 eyes and pleasing shape are essential to secure top prices for 

 the product. , 



ALFALFA GROWING. 



BY O. A. THOMPSON. 



For the past few years, farmers of the Northwest have 

 manifested great interest in alfalfa growing. This interest 

 has been brought about by two factors which are of vital 

 importance to the farmer, scarcity of forage for stock and 

 the declining fertility of the soil. Recognizing the great eco- 

 nomic importance of this peer of forage crops, the farmers 

 have sought to supply the deficiency of forage and at the 

 same time build up their worn out soil by trials in growing 

 alfalfa, which have in many instances proven a failure. 



The many factors which enter into successful alfalfa 

 growing, especially in the semi-arid west, make it imperative 

 that a thorough study of the nature and requirements of the 

 crop be made before attempting to grow it. Should these 

 essential factors be disregarded, the attempt to grow alfalfa 

 will prove disappointing and will result in sure failure. 



Conclusions drawn from the best results in alfalfa grow- 

 ing at the Edgeley Experiment Station and the experience 

 of successful growers of the crop, lead to the following ob- 

 servations : Alfalfa will do well on nearly all well drained 

 soils, but it thrives best on a rich sandy loam with a per- 

 meable subsoil. The old saying, "that alfalfa will not stand 

 wet feet," is very true as many have found to their sorrow 

 in attempting to grow it upon wet, soggy land. Alfalfa 

 will stand some flooding while the plants are in the dormant 

 state, but sheets of ice invariably kill out the crop. Hence 

 the desirability of making the proper selection of fields 

 intended for alfalfa. 



Land intended for alfalfa growing must be thoroughly 

 prepared by good, reasonably deep plowing and harrowing 

 and should be practically free from weeds. It is a waste of 

 , time and money to attempt to grow alfalfa upon poor weedy 

 land as the young plants are very tender and a poor stand 

 is usually the result. It is an excellent plan to prepare the 

 land the year previous to sowing the alfalfa by growing a 

 cultivated crop such as corn or potatoes, the latter preferred. 

 Here is where the good plowing and thorough tillage should 

 be practiced. By thoroughly cultivating the land, many of the 

 weeds are destroyed and a large amount of moisture is 

 stored in the soil to be utilized by the young alfalfa plants. 

 Upon old land, a liberal application of well rotted manure 

 before planting the cultivated crop will prove very beneficial 

 in stimulating vigorous growth while the plants are young. 

 Before sowing the alfalfa the following spring, the land 

 should be double disced by lapping half and then thoroughly 

 harrowed. It is highly important that the soil be put in the 

 best possible physical condition before sowing the seed. 



Alfalfa should be sown in the spring after the danger of 

 heavy frost is 1 past. In the drier sections, better stands_ are 

 generally obtained when medium early seeding is practiced. 

 Usually, better stands are obtained by sowing the seed broad- 

 cast and lightly harrowing the ground after sowing. More 

 seed will be required for broadcasting than when a drill is 

 (Continued on page 838.) 



