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New York 
The Rural New-Yorker 
The Business Farmer’s Paper 
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A'OL. LX X AT I. 
XEW YOItK, AIAltClI Id, lots. 
Xo. 117.-!. 
Successful Potato Growing 
How it is Done in New Jersey 
Oil. PKErAPtATIOX.—At the present time, 
•vvlien the cost of gj’owinsc potatoes is so high 
(over .$100 j)er acre) it is wise to put conshleruhle 
tliought and prci)aration on the crop Itefore tlie 
l)otatoes are iilanted. One nationally known agri¬ 
culturist lias said that "when the ground is well 
pri'pared the cro]) is half grown.” This I lielieve 
to he an exaggeration; nevertheles, much more 
good, inti'lligent effort should he spent on ground 
jireparation before the seed is put in than is the 
usual custom. 
COVlOlt CltOl’.'^.—I have found that deeji ]»lowing 
jiays. Kight or nine years ago we could jilow 
no deejier than six inches without turning uj) yel¬ 
low clay suhsoil. Knowing that a little of this sub¬ 
soil would do no harm, we began ])lowing about 
one-half inch deeper each succe.ssive year, until 
now we never plow Ic.-^s than nine inches deep. We 
do no Fall idowing because of the clayey nature of 
our soil, which becomes so firm and solid again 
during the Winter months as to need replowing, 
'riu'ii too, Ave Avonld nut di.speii.se with the benefit 
only to the depth of four inches, which semns to be 
the usual custom of farmer.s. We follow this with 
the disk, then use a sivike-tooth harrow and linish 
Avith the drag or ileeker smoothing harroAA'. AVe 
always thoroughly prepare o\ir ground, even if by 
doing so Ave delay the planter. 
SEED SEl.ECTIOX AXD C.VKE.—Kefore plant¬ 
ing much time and thought is spent on seed. (Jood 
seed always jiays, so Ave buy certified seed. Tests 
in our OAvn fields .sIioav the Avisdom of this. AA'e liave 
learned that certified seed does not ahvays mean 
perfect: seed, but Ave do belieA-e it to be good insur¬ 
ance against the large percentage of di.soased pota¬ 
toes found in the common stocks sold by .so many 
dealers. ,Tust as an example, a neighbor last year 
planted 10 acres of (Jreen Mountain ]»otatoe.s. FiA'o 
acres Avere planted Avith certified si'ed, the remain¬ 
ing live acres Avith uncertified stock bought from a 
dealer, all Avere put in the same held under ex¬ 
actly the same conditions. The certified S(>«‘d jn-o- 
duced IMO bu.shels per acre, the other MO bushels. 
The certified seed cost -AO cents more a bushel, but 
netted the oAvner OA-er .$100 more jier acre. 
STOTtrxr. SEED POT.VTOE.S.—Our .seed is 
usiiiilly bought in tln^ F.ill, thereliy getting tlie pick 
h.-ive the Avork all finished before planting. We cut 
the .seed in the room just described, dust immedi¬ 
ately Avith sulphur and dump in fiA-e-eighths bu.shels 
slat baskets or in bushel tomato crates; crates being 
prefiM'red. as they may be stacked to the ceiling. 
The.se seed ])iecos are duiniied the second, fourth 
and fifth da.A's to help facilitate the even drying of 
all seed pieces. AVe siinidy pl.-ioe an einiity basket 
or crate over the full one and transfer, h'he Jifth 
or sixth da.A’ after cutting, flu* ]iotato pieces. ke{)t 
in a dry. Avarin room and h.-indled in this manner, 
are dry enough to be put in our damj), cool cellar 
and kept there until the planter is ready for them. 
'"foltlXO HEED PIECES.— Tu onr clay soils Ave 
have often had very had results from .seed jilanted 
immediatidy after cutting, a r.-iin shortly aftm- jilant- 
ing .soiiKhiines causing a tot.il f.aiinre from rot. On 
the other hand, seed cut two. tiiree or four Aveeks 
ahead of the planter .seems at its best. The past 
season 1 lait the first bushel of seed, juit it aside 
and planti'd it last (o\-cr ti\e Avet'ks later). The 
results Avere identical in every ]iarticul;ir with seed 
cut five da.vs befon* ]>l:inting. After taking all this 
trouble Avith our seed av(‘ folloAv it up by careful 
l»rotection from wind and .sun Avhile transferring it 
derived from cov(‘r crop.s. We try ahvays to have 
a clover, jiot 'J'imothy, .sod or .a coA’er ci'op to ]>low 
under. I find the value of cover croj).s to he un- 
d(‘restimated by many peopk*. V,'(> make a geneigil 
practice of visiii'r cover crojts over the Avhole faiau 
.and soAV a mixturi' (»f scaals. 'fhis mixture is msually 
coinjK)sed of ryt*. Alfalfa, AA'inter v('tch, Crim.son, 
Alsike and lied clover, and turnip s('(*d, using one- 
half bushed of rye and 10 epiarts of the <-ombined 
legumes iter acre. The Avisdom of a large mixture 
Is .shown by the fact that, Avhile one or more of 
the various kinds of seeds may be a total failure, 
the aggreg.ate never fails ti> bring ivsnlts that 
mean much to the coming cro]j. 
TllOllorcil AVORKIXG.—AA'e plow as early in 
the Hpring as the ground permits, 'riiongh I helieve* 
the practice pays, Ave do A’ery little disking on our 
farm before itloAving. as Ave seldom timl time to do 
this Avithout interfering Avith the plowing it.self, 
and extra teams and men are ab.solutel.v impossi¬ 
ble to find. AA’'e do, hoAvever, put much time and 
energy in Avorking up the ground ahead of the 
planter, first using a light draft harrow (,i .spring- 
tooth harrow on Avheels) putting the teeth in much 
deeper than many. I do not believe it practical to 
ploAv nine inches and then AA-ork the ground down 
The Potato Field Nearing Full Growth. Fig. 201 
of tin* best grown. Ir is kt‘pt in .mu uiHlergiuund 
cellar in bins not larger than 7 by 1(> feet. Air 
spaces are provided under the potatoes and all the 
AA’jiy .•irouml the bins, whih' tin? potatoes are iieA'er 
dump(>d more than four feet deep- 
SPPOP'riXC THE POTATOES.— Ill the Sluing, 
about three Aveeks bef(»re cutting, the .seed is taken 
from the cellar and spread (J to 1g incluvs tliii-k 
on the floor of a building built especially for siu-out- 
iiig and cutting .seed potatoes. 'This building. Avhich 
is -It) by t»() fei't, has AA'indows all l!u“ way around 
it except on the north side. If the wcatiu'r grows 
cold a lire is built in the stove in the middle of the 
room. The potatoc's thus expo.-ed to tlie sun be¬ 
come green and start healtliy. fat spi-oiits whiih 
do not grow long enough to bre.-ik off. but do help 
materially in starting the potato plant off Avith a 
jump when the seed piece is put in the ground. 
'Tlum too, Avhen the seed is cut. the potatix-s Avhich 
are weak or backAA'ard. or Avhich have not sprouted 
at all. are easily <letected and thrown out. 
rrT'l’TXH THE SEED.—For years one of our 
hardest problems has been to get good pot.ato cut- 
tei’s when all our men were needed in the field pre- 
pai’ing the ground and planting. AVe uoav begin 
cutting the seed before starting the pIoav. and so 
to the field for planting and also Avh.ile it is in the 
field before planting. 
FEK'ril.l/.EK Dl.^rUTP.T’TlOX.—AVe use a one- 
I'ow jilanter, putting the seed pieces about tAA'o 
inches deeii. 11 inches ajiarr in the row, Avith the 
roAvs inclu's .apart. Fertilizer is aiiplied Avith .a 
two-row fertilizer distrilmtor. keeping the ploAVs 
fairly <leeii .so that some of the fertilizer is put in 
ilii" ground two or moi'e inclu's (Ua'iK'r than the 
jiot.ato is when I'ropjied. AVe have tried numerous 
other Av.ays of a[tplying fm-tilizer; broadca.sting it 
before and after planting, jilacing it neai- the roots 
of the phani after the plant has attained consid¬ 
erable size. etc., but in every test Ave find that fer¬ 
tilizer .ajiplii'd in a brct.ad ribbon. Id or 14 inches 
Avide. .and thoroughly mixed witii the soil by little 
Aveeder-like atiachments of the distributor, to be 
the bt'si. 1 am thoroughly convinced that aiiplying 
fertilizer broadc.ast. on or too lu'ar the surface, is 
a mist.ake. as the little feeding rootlets of the ]iot.ato 
have a mo.st Avonderful Av.ay of searching for and 
finding fertilizer and to ilraw these near the sur¬ 
face between the roAvs .and then cut them off Avith 
the cultivator does not give tlie best results, lumce 
our effort to get .';ome of the fertilizer belOAA' the 
seed piece. My objection to appl.A ing fertilizer with 
