POTATO 



POTATO 



527 



grown primarily for table use, the ideal tuber is 

 white-fleshed, rich in starch, medium size, oval, 

 smooth and with shallow eyes. Much attention is 

 given to securing increased disease-resistance. On 

 the continent the ideal table variety is smaller, 

 yellow-fleshed, relatively poorer in starch and richer 

 in proteids. The breeding of starch-rich varieties 

 for stock-feed and factory purposes has received 

 attention, especially in Germany and Austria. 



Potato-growing in the South. 



By H. Harold Hume. 



In recent years the potato, in common with 

 other truck crops, has received an increasing share 

 of attention in the southern states. On the Atlantic 

 seaboard the southern potato territory may be said 

 to extend from Florida to Virginia, the area of 

 greatest production being in northeastern North 

 Carolina and around Norfolk, Va. 



Cropping system. 



One of the principal differences 

 in the culture of the potato in the 

 North and in the South is that in 

 the South two crops are grown, 

 one in autumn and the other in 

 spring. The spring crop is by far 

 the larger and more important, 

 being grown to supply the north- 

 ern spring demand for new pota- 

 toes, while the relatively small fall 

 crop is disposed of locally. Plant- 

 ing for the fall crop in Florida is 

 made in late September or early 

 October ; in the latitude .of Savan- 

 nah, in the latter part of August 

 or early September; and farther 

 north in the early part of August. The spring crop 

 is generally planted in the latter half of January 

 and in February and March, depending on the 

 section. This crop is marketed between the latter 

 part of April and the middle of July. 



Culture. 



Varieties. — Earliness is the principal considera- 

 tion in the selection of varieties for the southern 

 crop. If the variety is not early it will not meet 

 the exacting conditions imposed on the culture of 

 the crop by market competition. The favorite 

 variety with Florida planters is Early Rose No. 4, 

 nine-tenths of the seed used being of this variety. 

 In other sections Bliss Triumph (Red Bliss) and 

 White Bliss are grown, though the latter, because 

 of its being a white variety, although equally early, 

 is not so favorably received in the markets. 



Seed. — Generally, seed grown in the North 

 (Maine, New York and Michigan) or Virginia 

 second crop is preferable for use in the extreme 

 south, although in the more northerly sections seed 

 from the fall crop will give good results for spring 

 planting. Throughout the whole area seed from 

 the spring crop is used for fall-planting. 



Preparation of the land. — The best preceding 

 crop for potatoes in the South is a cover of cow- 



peas. The land should be broken two or three 

 months in advance of the spring- planting, 

 thoroughly harrowed and ridged slightly. Unless 

 the land is very well drained, ridging is advan- 

 tageous in increasing the earliness of the crop, 

 and everything which will hasten the growth of 

 the spring-planting must be carefully considered. 

 The rows may be laid ofl: as close as three feet 

 apart if a single planting is to be made, but if 

 corn, cotton or some other crop is to be planted 

 between the potato rows they should be five feet, 

 or thereabouts, apart. 



About a week or ten days before time of plant- 

 ing, depending on weather conditions, the commer- 

 cial fertilizer required for the crop should be dis- 

 tributed on the slight ridge referred to, and a 

 second higher ridge thrown over it. 



Fig. 761. Lady-flnger potatoes. 



Fertilizer. — To force the crop, large amounts of 

 fertilizer must be used. There is always a con- 

 siderable amount which does not become available 

 for the crop during its growing season, and to 

 make up for this a greater quantity must be 

 applied. If the crop could be allowed a longer 

 growing season, much less fertilizer would be 

 required. The amount used, of course, will vary 

 with the previous cropping of the land and the 

 amount of native available fertility; but, in general, 

 1,000 to 2,000 pounds per acre should be used. 

 Florida planters generally use one ton per acre. 

 While these amounts may seem excessive, the crop 

 does not use all the fertilizer, and the residual 

 supply may be used to good advantage in pro- 

 ducing corn, cotton, hay, or some summer truck 

 crop, which should always follow. 



A good average fertilizer should analyze 4 per 

 cent ammonia, 6 per cent phosphoric acid and 7 

 or 8 per cent potash. Both organic and inorganic 

 sources of ammonia may be used. Nitrate of soda 

 is frequently very helpful in starting the crop. It 

 should be used as a side dressing at the rate of 100 

 or 150 pounds per acre after the "plants are two 

 or three inches high. The phosphoric acid is 

 derived almost solely from phosphatic rock. Sul- 

 fate of potash, because of its effect in improving 



