April 4 
256 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
POTATOES SIX WEEKS FROM 
PLANTING. 
Is Such a Thing Possible? 
A seedsman has offered what he calls 
a “six weeks potato,” claiming that he can 
dis markefable tubers six weeks from the 
lime of planting. We have never been 
able to produce potatoes of good size in 
much less than 10 weeks, although our soil 
is heavy and not adapted to early forcing. 
We would like to know just how early 
you have been able to obtain marketable 
potatoes. What is the best record you 
can give regarding this matter? Do you 
know of any variety that will really give 
salable tubers in six weeks from dropping 
the seed? Ilow long doe.s it generally 
take for the vines to aitpear above ground? 
We have never tried the very early 
varieties. Such kinds as the Early 
Norther or Early Bagley planted the 
last of March or first week in April, in 
a favoi’able season, will come through 
the ground about the first week in May 
and will not have marketable tubers 
before July 1. 1 have had tubers large 
enough for table use by June 15 twice in 
the last 15 years. We never plant many 
early potatoes; as a rule, they do not 
yield as heavily as a medium late po¬ 
tato. M. iiiiWbE'rr. 
I.,ong Island. 
I have never been able to grow any 
potatoes in less than 10 weeks, and these 
were the earliest varieties. I never suc¬ 
ceeded in growing potatoes sufficiently 
advanced to dig for market in that time. 
1 am going to try the Early Six Weeks 
this Spring in our field culture. Much 
depends upon weather conditions as to 
how quickly a crop of potatoes may be 
grown. I do not believe we can mature 
any variety of potatoes fit for market in 
six weeks; it is possible it might be ac¬ 
complished on some soils, every condi¬ 
tion being favorable. n. c. lewis. 
Middlesex Co., N. J. 
Ten w'eeks is as early as 1 have grown 
marketable Irish potatoes, though no 
sj)ecial effort was made. This is as good 
record as 1 am aware of. I do not know 
of any variety that will produce mar¬ 
ketable tubers in six weeks, and do not 
believe there is one that will do it under 
ordinary field conditions. The time it 
takes the vines to appear above ground 
varies considerably, according to condi¬ 
tions of soil, tubers and the weather. 
Under ordinary conditions, 12 to 14 days 
are required. This period can be short¬ 
ened considerably by sprouting the tu¬ 
bers before planting, by planting on a 
light warm soil and by planting very 
shallow. But I do not believe that we 
have any variety that can be made to 
produce marketable tubers in six weeks. 
Virginia. m fi- i’Kioe. 
Not having soil well adapted to the 
Irish potato my experience is mostly 
limited to their production for home 
u.se. Our soil is sandy or gravelly loam. 
It does not seem to contain sufficient 
vegetable matter for the best results 
with the Irish potato, but is better for 
sweet potatoes. In the little hollows or 
depressions where mold accumulates we 
often succeed very well. We plant from 
the middle of March to the first of April. 
The time required for the sprouts to 
come up varies greatly with the weatli- 
er. If cold, freezing weather comes they 
sometimes remain below the surface for 
three or four weeks (it will take a 
mighty lively potato to make tubers in 
six weeks at this rate), but if the soil 
is warm and the right conditions of 
moisture and heat continue they will 
come up in a week or 10 days. We have 
not had any experience with tfie so- 
called Six Weeks potato, and have never 
seen any potatoes, so far as I know, pro¬ 
duced six weeks from dropping the seed; 
that is potatoes big enough to eat. How¬ 
ever, I would not say it is impossible. 
Suppose eyes were cut and sprouted and 
carefully prepared as directed in The 
R. N.-Y. some time since, and not plant¬ 
ed out until settled warm weather pre¬ 
vailed, I should think some of the very 
early varieties might attain sufficient 
size to market in six weeks if all con¬ 
ditions were favorable. We dig our first 
potatoes about the middle of June, 10 or 
12 weeks from planting. We plant most¬ 
ly Holton Rose for early, always using 
northern-grown seed; have not tried the 
Virginia second crop. f. s. n, 
Vineland, N. J. 
1 planted New Queen last year the last 
week in March. They were through the 
ground by May 1; on June 1 we had po¬ 
tatoes to eat with our peas. On June 12 
I began to dig for our stores in the 
town; June 15 to 20 I sent loads to the 
Philadelphia market. On the 15th 1 had 
about 200 baskets (40 barrels) to the 
acre; sold in Philadelphia market at 80 
cents a basket. This was considered 
wonderfully early for a crop of that 
kind; six weeks from putting seed in 
ground depends on time you plant. Had 
1 planted middle of April with seed well 
sprouted and greened, covered shallow, 
1 could have had them ahead of those 1 
planted in March and covered deeply to 
insure against a freeze. Location, kind 
of soil, way of planting, have all to do 
with the earliness of an early variety. 1 
would not take much stock in such an 
assertion (six weeks from planting) 
without having made a small trial of 
the seed. wakben atklnson. 
Gloucester Co., N. J. 
Ten weeks is as early as it has ever 
been possible for me to dig potatoes of 
marketable size, and that only under fa¬ 
vorable conditions. Most seasons it will 
take 11 weeks from time seed is dropped, 
because they are planted very early and 
require from three to four weeks to 
come through the ground according to 
weather conditions. It cannot be expect¬ 
ed that a potato planted April 1 will ap¬ 
pear above ground in as few days as one 
planted after April 20. The early po¬ 
tato is planted in this locality early in 
April, and rarely indeed are many dug 
and marketed before the extreme end of 
June or early in July, it is very unsafe 
to have potatoes over ground here be¬ 
fore May 1, and in a number of in¬ 
stances I have seen them frozen after 
May 5. You will readily see it takes 
practically eight weeks for them to ma¬ 
ture after they are up. An early potato 
was introduced last season by Thorburn 
called Crine’s Lightning. This variety 
certainly has merit as an early maturer, 
and good yielder. I believe that if this 
variety behaves as well in the future as 
it has in the past the time will be short¬ 
ened at least one week. c. c. hulsaut. 
Monmouth Co., N. J. 
A Word for the Vetch.— I have found 
the Hairy vetch an excellent leguminous 
cover crop, equal to Crimson clover, and 
can be sown later. It is also easier to get 
a stand of it, and it will withstand freez¬ 
ing and thawing much better than clover. 
Pennsylvania. R. p. l. 
The Cost of Strawberries.— It can 
readily be seen from what has been pub¬ 
lished that circumstances so control the 
question of cost that true arid correct 
answers may be given ranging all the way 
from $75 to $150 per acre. I have found that 
with a good clover sod, thorough prepara¬ 
tion, wliich includes proper fertilization, 
and good climatic conditions, with good 
help 1 could bring the cost down to $100 
per acre. 1 say down, because I know 
with the average season with its periods 
of drought or excessive rainfall that ex¬ 
penses ranging from $25 to $50 will be added 
and we need not have any chickweed to 
help either. Because mine is a strong, 
slaty, clay soil much more work with the 
hoe must be done to keep down the weeds 
than on a lighter soil. 1 remember some 
years since that in a debate upon the ques¬ 
tion of “intensive versus extensive farm¬ 
ing,” a man on the “intensive” side applied 
to me to know the actual cost of an acre 
of strawberries, such as I had the good 
fortune to have that season, and I made a 
very close calculation, having done for 
them all that I knew how to do, which be¬ 
ing supplemented by favorable weather, I 
gathered the largest crop I ever had. I 
found that the entire field of iYz acres had 
cost me $200 per acre. If I had made this 
calculation before securing the crop I 
should have questioned where the profit 
was, but as I realized over $500 per acre 
for the fruit the re.sult was very satis¬ 
factory, and my friend was strongly for¬ 
tified. WALTER F. TABER. 
Dutchess Co., N. Y. 
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Seed Sweet Corn- 
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84-86 Randolph St., CHICAGO. 
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Trees 
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