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THE SECOND GROl^^TH OF IRISH POTATOES. 



Professor Massey, of the North Carolina Experiment 

 Station, Professor Van Deman, Pomologist of the De- 

 partment of Agriculture, and others interested in the 

 progress of the state, are doing good work among the 

 residents in explaining methods and the necessity for exer- 

 cising them in connection with the improved varieties. 



As an instance of the way in which some of the grow- 

 ers market their fruit, the writer, on April 15, saw wagon 

 loads of apples brought into Asheville and sold for $1.50 

 to $2.50 a bushel to dealers. There were two kinds, 

 known as Cammack, a rather small greenish yellow, and 

 Royal Twig (probably a local name), red, with light 

 spots. They were dumped carelessly into the bottom of 

 a springless wagon among horse feed and a miscellaneous 

 lot of household utensils, and carted for miles over the 

 rough mountain roads. It is surely logical to think that 

 if these poorly-grown sorts could be kept by a handy 

 process so that they were marketable in April, that better 



varieties, or even the same sorts, properly grown, prop- 

 erly kept and properly marketed, would bring a price 

 sufficiently large to warrant the extra labor and expense. 



The Alliance is of great value to the growers of this 

 section, for it is bringing in men to talk who are success- 

 ful in fruit-growing in other parts of the country, and 

 who can and do describe the best methods of procedure 

 in all branches of the work. Slowly but surely these 

 different influences are having their effect upon the resi- 

 dents of this wondrously-favored section, and the time 

 cannot be far distant when, with the advent of capital, 

 the improvement of railroad facilities, and a more thor- 

 ough realization of the possibilities at hand, fruit grow- 

 ing in western North Carolina will rank among the 

 profitable industries of the section. Nature has been 

 liberal, and when man shall see the advisability of co- 

 operation with her, the results will be most satisfying to 

 all concerned. George R. Knapp. 



THE SECOND GROWTH OF IRISH POTATOES. 



I SEND some Irish potatoes of the main crop 

 which have commenced a second growth. 

 They are not the worst examples by a long 

 way, as the whole crop is so affected. In 

 many cases it may be observed that strings 

 of small tubers are formed, and from their appear- 

 ance it would seem that a new tuber commenced to 

 form, and that the stimulating influences were so 

 great that it had not sufficient time to complete its 

 growth, and an endeavor was consequently made to 

 commence another tuber. The root or runner that 

 communicates with the whole number of tubers in 

 the string has often the appearance of being itself 

 only a modified tuber. The tubers first formed 

 have commenced to grow prematurely, for they 

 have never ripened. The tubers of this second 

 growth appear to be produced two, three and some- 

 times four inches deeper in the ground than the 

 first crop, and they are more abundant. This sec- 

 ond growth is owing entirely to the exceedingly dry 

 summer that we have experienced. The spring 

 was very wet, and this caused the planting season 

 to be delayed until nearly the middle of March, 

 which is a month later than the usual planting sea- 



son. The weather following the planting was very 

 dry, and potatoes and other plants did little more 

 than exist. The first rains after planting that were 

 of any importance did not occur until the middle of 

 June. Everything then received a stimulus, and 

 the Irish potatoes commenced a second growth. 

 This growth was not confined to the tubers only, 

 but the haulm grew more or less vigorously, and 

 here and there it may be noticed affected with signs 

 of the rot. This second growth is very detrimental 

 to the crop, and its effects are to be avoided by 

 every possible means ; but, fortunately, it is only 

 occasionally that such an untoward event occurs. 

 By this second growth the crop is much depreciated 

 in market value, and to obtain the highest price the 

 crop will bring, it should be harvested as soon as 

 the second growth is observable. It is most likely 

 that if allowed to remain, a good crop would be 

 produced that would give excellent results if dug in 

 the fall ; but to allow the crop to remain is almost, 

 if not quite, impracticable in this latitude ; for 

 towards the middle of July the ground would be 

 completely taken up with crab grass, Bermuda, 

 coco and tie-vines, to say nothing of many other 



