i68 



POTATOES IN THE SOUTH. 



Apricot. — The Harris, a new apricot, is being success- 

 fully grown in some parts of Western New York. 



As to which was the more profitable, the dwarf or 

 standard pears, the majority seemed to prefer the 

 dwarfs. The Worden grape is not likely to supersede 

 the Concord. Fay's Prolific currant seemed to have 

 given satisfaction except in regard to size. Professor 

 Bailey said that the pear scab is caused by a fungus and 

 recommended the use of ounce hyposulphite of soda 



to 10 gallons water as a spray. $4,293.70 was reported 

 as already raised on the permanent fund of the society. 

 Mr. George Ellwanger gave the society $1,000, the pro- 

 ceeds of which are to be devoted to prizes. The follow- 

 ing officers were elected : President, Patrick Barry, 

 Rochester ; Vice-Presidents, S. D. Willard, Geneva ; 

 W. C. Barry, Rochester ; W. B. Smith, Syracuse; and 

 J. S. Woodward, Lockport ; Secretary and Treasurer, 

 John Hall, Rochester. H. N. R. 



POTATOES IN THE SOUTH. 



VALUABLE DETAILS OF THE CULTURE OF EARLY POTATOES "SECOND CROP "SEED. 



never failed. 



S'iBOUT Mempl^s, the potatoes 

 planted are Early Rose, Peer- 

 less, Early Ohio and Triumph. 

 After several years trial, how- 

 * ever, we find Triumph to be 

 the earliest and most prolific 

 potato, and one that will stand 

 more uncongenial weather than 

 any other. In fact, it has 

 It yields large crops with exceedingly 

 few unmarketable tubers, and it is the only potato 

 that can be absolutely depended upon for a second 

 crop. 



We use for seed only those potatoes that are too 

 small for market, and only our own home-grown 

 second-crop seed. The value placed upon them is 

 shown by the fact that the New York Early Rose 

 potatoes could be bought last spring for ^2.50 per 

 barrel, while we sold our home-grown Triumph for 

 %\o and $12 per barrel, 



Any time from the first of January to March 15th, if 

 our ground is in good order, we plant our seed potatoes, 

 not tilled and drained like our more northern lands, 

 hence we select land with as good natural drainage as 

 possible. After breaking up the ground thoroughly with 

 a two-horse plow, we harrow and "plank" or "plane" 

 it. This plank or drag is made y\-shaped, 10 feet wide 

 and 6 feet long to point of the and the planks are 

 put on like the weather-boarding of a house. This im- 

 plement more thoroughly pulverizes the clods than a 

 roller, which merely presses the clods unbroken into the 

 soft ground. The ground is now laid off in furrows lYi 

 feet apart, making the furrows 8 or 10 inches wide and 

 as shallow as possible. The fertilizer used here is cotton 

 seed meal. Its action upon the potatoes is quicker than 

 stable manure or any commercial fertilizer we have been 

 able to obtain, and the potatoes are always smooth and 

 clean. Eight hundred to one thousand five hundred 

 pounds is used to the acre, but the more meal, the more 

 potatoes. In distributing this meal, where machinery is 

 not used, the men take a bucket of meal and scatter it 

 thickly in the furrow, sacks of meal being put in differ- 

 ent parts of the field for convenience. With a little ex- 

 perience, these men easily guess at the proper quantity. 



Some cut their potatoes 10 or 12 days before planting 

 rolling the pieces in dry earth which they have prepared 

 under a shed, so as to "keep in the sap" and to "heal 

 them up," as they term it. My own plan, however, is 

 to have cutters at work the day of planting, and plant as 

 fast as cut. I cut two eyes to a piece and put two pieces 

 in a place, twelve inches apart. After having dropped 

 the potatoes in the furrow on the top of the meal, I cov- 

 er them by running between the furrows with a Planet 

 Jr. horse hoe with the side shovels turned out, so as to 

 throw about three or four inches of dirt on the potatoes. 

 In this way, with one man and mule, six to eight acres 

 a day can be covered. 



The heavy work is now done. We wait until we see 

 the potato sprouts breaking through the ground, when 

 a one-horse V-harrow is dragged over the top of the 

 ridges. This breaks the crust that has formed and gives 

 the sprout a chance to come through. When the plant 

 is up about six inches, *I use a one-horse cultivator with 

 the narrow 134^ inch blade. These narrow blades en- 

 able me to run close up to the plant without disturbing 

 the seed potato, at the same time relieving the work of 

 hoeing weeds. After this the crop is left for a few days, 

 when a little dirt is thrown up to the plant either with 

 a turning plow or horse hoe. I prefer the latter. A 

 week or ten days later, should the weather have been at 

 all favorable, the final working, or as it is termed down 

 here, " laying by, "is given the crop. This is done by 

 hilling as much dirt as necessary up to the plant. The 

 Early Rose grows in a bunch directly under the root, 

 while the Triumph spreads very much ; hence a much 

 wider furrow or bed is required for them than the Rose. 



We now await results. About the first to tenth of 

 June we commence harvesting the crop. The digging 

 is done with a two-horse plow. No potato smaller than 

 a duck's egg is used for market. The small potatoes 

 are kept for seed purposes. The average yield, on good 

 ground and with plenty of cotton seed meal, is 250 

 bushels per acre. The cost of production per barrel of 

 234; bushels, barrelled and headed up ready for market, 

 is $1.25, and the average selling price is $2 to $2.25, 

 while in many years %^ and $4 is obtained. 



Thus far I have spoken only of what is termed our 

 first crop, our second crop being by far the more valu- 

 able, it is grown entirely for seed purposed. 



Tennessee' Joe. L. Ullathorne. 



