180 



POSSIBILITIES OF MUCK SOIL 



grown on the heavy soil in our section. They will boil just as white 

 as you could ask. Last year I planted my potatoes the tenth of 

 Ma^^ About the seventh of June we had a ^ ery heavy frost. Pota- 

 toes were up well, and were cut to the ground. They were planted 

 deep — I like to get down where the moisture is. It looked as though 

 the crop would be a total failure, but they came up very well and 

 set late. It was impossible to find a potato the size of a marble 

 when the vines covered the ground, but we had an excellent crop and 

 the quality was good. I like the Early Ohio and the Irish Cobbler 

 for muck potatoes. In planting those varieties, use plenty of seed 

 and plant them close. If you don't, you will have room enough 

 inside of each of those potatoes to put a small potato. 



Mr. Greixer: Are the potatoes free from scab? 



Mr. Greffrath: I don't know that I had any scab. They are 

 just as smooth as if you had picked them out of an egg shell. 



Mr. Boxxey: Don't you think the Early Rose yields more? 



Mr. Greffrath: I have not grown that since I was a boy. 



QuESTiox: How about keeping quality? 



Mr. Greffrath: They keep well. This year there is a large 

 amount of loss on account of rot. but we had no rot, — I don't believe 

 we threw away a peck out of a hundred bushels. My potatoes were 

 sprayed about every ten days with Bordeaux mixture. You must 

 watch your potatoes on muck. Muck is the home of blight. 



QuESTiox: How could you get through your potato vines T^ith- 

 out crushing them? 



Mr. Greffrath: The bed is only about twenty-five feet wide 

 and beside a driveway. We could drive up the road and cover the 

 entire stretch. I figure that if you destroy the vines a little, it is not 

 as bad as letting the entire crop go down by blight. 



Mr. Greix'er: That is the late blight? 



Mr. Greffrath: We had a blight the latter part of August. 

 Mr. Greixer: Then it is the late blight. 



Mr. Greffrath: We have a blight almost from the time we 

 start. Whether it is of a different nature from the late blight I am 

 not prepared to say. 



