June 18. 1921 
826 
wore cut the Hubam clover grew to a height of :v/ 2 
to 4 ft. It came into bloom, but did not seed. It 
made, however, a great growth to be plowed under 
as manure. We understand Unit when seeded with 
Winter wheat in Kansas ibis clover made a heavy 
growth, and after harvest matured seed. The point 
is, however, that this clover can be seeded with a 
Spring crop like oats. Then that crop can be taken 
oft and the Hubam clover will come on and make 
from two to three times as much growth as any 
other clover would. This growth can be used for 
pasture, for hay, or for plowing under as a green 
manure. 
EARLY HISTORY.—Most of our readers are now 
familiar with the history of this Hubam. It was 
first discovered in the North in a greenhouse at the 
Iowa Agricultural College. In a test to show the 
differences, if any. between different, plants of Sweet 
clover, a few plants were found growing very rapidly 
and maturing seed in one season. The performance 
was so striking that Prof. Hughes followed up the 
matter and found that he had discovered a variety 
of Sweet clover which will make as great a growth 
in three or four months as the common biennial 
variety did in two years. On following up the mat¬ 
ter they found that this seed came from a point in 
Alabama, and on visiting that section they found 
considerable quantities of this clover growing, 
although few. if any. had noticed its habit of pro¬ 
ducing seed in one year. It is said that Sweet clover 
was introduced into this Alabama section from ('bile 
in 1800. The people of that section immediately 
recognized it as a valuable clover and started grow¬ 
ing it freely. Prof. Hughes says that this is probably 
the only section in the I’nited States where Sweet 
clover was recognized as a-valuable liold crop from 
its first introduction. In most other sections the 
Sweet clover has been condemned as a weed or worse 
for many years, until almost by accident its good 
qualities were recognized. This was not. so bad in 
Alabama, for from the first its value was recognized, 
although few. if anyone, in that section realized that 
a distinct new variety had been developed. It is 
said that until recently more Sweet clover seed has 
been shipped from New Bern and Unioutown, Ala¬ 
bama. than from any other sections in the country. 
I’p to 1920 every pound of this seed had been gath¬ 
ered by hand by the negroes. It is thought that this 
Hubam clover has been growing in that Alabama 
section for at least 30 years. In 1020 Prof. Hughes 
found in the neighborhood 150 acres of this variety 
growing in that section. Yet its value was ne\er 
fully appreciated, because few if any were able to 
understand its peculiar value. The planters in that 
part of Alabama have now organized a seed growers’ 
association in order to keep the seed pure. 
KEEPING T'P FERTILITY.—There are without 
question immense possibilities in this new plant. It 
can 1>< used as hay. as pasture or green manuring. Our 
own thought is that in the Eastern states its chief 
value will be as a green manurial crop. The great 
need of our Eastern soil is for humus and lime. We 
are all beginning to recognize the value of lime, and 
we have depended too much on stable manure for 
the purpose of providing the organic matter. The 
great development of trucks and motor cars has so 
reduced the supply of manure that many of our gar¬ 
deners and farmers cannot obtain what they need. 
This clover will fully supply the organic matter. We 
shall learn how to use it so as to make it exceed¬ 
ingly useful. Last year we planted this clover at a 
date later than the usual harvest of early peas. It 
grew to a height of 5 or 0 ft. before frost. We arc 
confident that strains of clover will be developed 
which will enable us to seed the crop after early 
potatoes, and obtain a growth of 4 ft. or more, which 
may be plowed under in time for rye seeding. Such 
a growth of organic matter put into the ground with 
lime and chemicals will enable us to grow any crop 
which can he made profitable in "this latitude. It 
will also be possible to seed this clo.er with Spring 
grain, harvest that crop for hay and then produce 
another heavy crop of this late clover in late Sum¬ 
mer. Or the Hubam clover may be seeded in early 
Spring and produce a heavy crop for plowing under 
in time for cabbage or late tomatoes. There are 
dozens of ways in which this crop can be handled, 
end we believe that within 10 years its use will 
practically revolutionize crop production on the up¬ 
per Atlantic slope. 
Experience in Successful Potato Spraying 
Bart III. 
ETURNS FROM SPRAYING.—The prevention 
of rot is only a small portion of the returns 
from spraying. As a matter of fact, a potato field 
may be so badly blighted that the plants die several 
The RURAL NEW-YORKER 
weeks before digging time, and still there may be 
very little if any rot. It all depends on weather 
conditions, location and somewhat on type of soil as 
to bow much infection of tubers takes place. A 
grower may have no rot, but still it will pay him to 
spray 00 times out of a hundred, I was going to say, 
but possibly 00 times out of 00 would be nearer right. 
It will certainly pay if the potato fio’d is any good, 
and if it isn't any good it won't pay to raise them 
anyhow. 
COMPARISON OF SPRAYED AND UN- 
SI’RAYED.—There was just an average as shown by 
Table 2, of 17.2 bu. more rotted potatoes per acre on 
the unsprayed than on the sprayed rows, yet there 
was an increase of 74.8 good potatoes on the sprayed 
fields. The difference between these two figures is 
57.6 bu. The prevention of rot by spraying then 
affected only 17.2 bu. of the 74.8 increase, or about 
one-fifth of the actual benefits. The other 57.6 bu. 
or four-fifths was the increased yield due to keep¬ 
ing the vines free from disease and in a healthy 
growing condition till maturity or a killing frost. 
In field No. 3, as shown by the table, there was an 
increase by spraying of 205 bu. per acre, yet there 
were only 10 lm. more rotted potatoes <>n the un¬ 
sprayed rows, or 195 bu. gain outside the saving in 
rot. The saving in rot was a pretty small factor in 
this case, but here is another. Field No. 15 showed 
an increase of 145 bu. in favor of spraying, and only 
SV 2 bn. of that was due to a saving from rot. 
Neither of these men had any rot to speak of. but 
do you think they would say that it would not pay 
them to spray next year because they didn’t have 
enough rot to bother with last season? 
INACCURATE REASONING—That brings up 
another point. Many people who have never sprayed, 
condemn spraying because they say they have 
watched their neighbors spray and at the end of 
Xut-grass Taber Formed Within Potato. Fig. 322 
the year their neighbor had just as much rot and 
blight as they had. Hence it follows of course that 
it doesn’t pay to spray? Perhaps there is a reason 
for this neighbor's failure, and now look carefully, 
for perhaps this is right where you like many others 
sire falling down. Several men came into these 
potato spraying associations, as they expressed it, 
just to see if there was anything to it or not. Jack 
Horner was one of these men, and said so very 
frankly: He is president of the County Branch of 
the Dairymen's League. He has a purebred Hol¬ 
stein dairy. Along with his other work he likes to 
grow a few acres of potatoes, liis field was No. 35, 
and spraying paid him just 145 bu. more titan where 
he didn’t spray. 11 also did something more. It 
proved to him why some of his neighbors didn’t get 
any better results than lie used to without. Most 
of Horner’s field was sprayed five times, the last two 
and most important sprays being made on Sept. S 
and Sept. 24. The first application was July 21 and 
the other two Aug. 7 and Aug. 24. Check rows 
were left through the middle of the piece, unsprayed. 
There was a section that was sprayed in July and 
August; hut not after the Aug. 24 application. An¬ 
other section was not sprayed at all during the 
Summer until Sept. 8 and again on Sept. 24. This 
gives us four blocks as follows; 
No. 1 sprayed 5 times, twice iu Sept. 
No. 2 sprayed 3 times, none in Sept- 
No. 3 sprayed 2 times, in Sept. only. 
No. 4 check—unsprayed. 
This is what he got at the end of the season: 
No. 1 yield per acre, 323.4 bu. 
No. 2 yield 1 per acre. 198 bu., loss over No. 1, 
125.4 bu. 
No. 3 yield per acre, 272.2 bu., loss over No. 1, 
56.2 bu. 
No. 4 yield per acre, 178 bu., loss over No. 1, 
145 bu. 
AN IMPORTANT POINT.—The point brought out 
is this, and it is a mighty important one. The most 
important of the five sprays were the ones in Sep¬ 
tember. The loss in yield in No. 2. as compared to 
No. 1, was just 125.4 bu., and this because spraying 
was done only in July and August instead of 
through the whole season. Now in No. 3, where 
only two September sprays were made, there was 
only a loss of 56.2 bu., over No. 1, and a gain over 
no spraying of 94 hu. In the case between a choice 
of spraying three times the first two months or twice 
the last month, it would he the better choice to take 
the September sprays. How many realize that fact? 
QUITTING EARLY.—Far too many potato grow¬ 
ers make a half-hearted attempt to spray, but stop 
entirely before the first of September, and then 
wonder why they do not. get much better results 
than their neighbor who never sprays. In the above 
it made a difference of whether the grower got a 
yield of 198 hu. per acre by half spraying or 323 bu. 
by thorough spraying. 
LATE BLIGHT.—Tt is interesting to know that 
late blight developed in Mr. Horner’s field of pota¬ 
toes shortly after the Sept. 8 application, and by 
Sept. 17. the cheek rows' were totally dead. The 
rows sprayed only in July and August were nearly 
dead, while the rows sprayed only on Sept. 8 were 
looking nearly as well as the rows sprayed four 
times. If the late blight infection had taken place 
before the Sept. 8 application there would have been 
an entirely different story on No. 3, as it is im¬ 
possible to stop the blfght after it once gets in. A 
good example of what might happen by not spray¬ 
ing during the last part of the season is shown by 
field No. 20 in table, page 802. This field was not 
sprayed after Aug. 27. and was dug the fore part of 
October. During September, late blight rot developed 
to the extent of 133 hu. per acre where sprayed and 
155 hu. where not sprayed. Isn’t it fun to pick up 
only 50 to 100 hu. of sound potatoes out of a total 
yield, of 250 hu.? 
INJURY TO VINES.—Many fanners not in the 
habit of spraying are much worried when the vines 
get so that they fill the row because of the injury 
the team and wheels of the sprayer may do. As a 
matter of fact, while there is undoubtedly some in¬ 
jury, it is never serious, and between injury to the 
vines by the machine and horses and injury by late 
blight there is absolutely no comparison. Tt is the 
big yielding fields that have (lie biggest vine growth 
and give the host returns by spraying. Yet it is 
these same fields that would suffer the greatest 
mechanical injury. 
SUMMING UP.—To sum up the whole thing, use 
a good machine capable of supplying a pressure of 
around 200 lbs., using two or three nozzles to the 
row and applying around 100 gallons of solution per 
acre per application. Keep the sprayer going till 
frost kills the vines or they die naturally, or until 
ready to dig. Spray ahead of rainy periods, if pos¬ 
sible, not after. This is important, as blight infec¬ 
tions take place during rainy weather. There is 
no danger of the spray washing off to any extent if 
it once gets dry before the rain starts. Spray as 
often as necessary to get good protection. In some 
sections this means every week or 10 days, in other 
sections about every two weeks. Start with a 4-4-50 
formula and as the season becomes more favorable 
for late blight, increase to a 5-5 or a 6-6-50 formula. 
Don’t, he afraid of injury to the vines by the team 
and sprayer. Remember the last sprays are the 
most important; he sure to make those. Don’t put 
off, expecting a frost in three or four days. The 
frost may not come, hut the blight may. Those who 
waited for the frost last year in our section waited 
until the forepart of November, but their vines died 
the middle of September. 
Yes. it pays to spray when the spraying is prop¬ 
erly done. don d. ward. 
Nut-grass Tuber in Potatoes 
I am sending you two potatoes which I think might 
interest you. A friend of mine asked me if 1 had ever 
seen potatoes with nuts imbedded inside; that a board¬ 
ing house had their Winter supply of potatoes, mostly 
with these nuts inclosed in them. I asked him to get me 
some that I could send to you. What is it? J. K. 
Bridgeport, Conn. 
PICTURE of one of these potatoes is shown at 
Fig. 322. Not being sure of the trouble, we 
sent a tuber to Prof. G. I\ Clinton of the Connecti¬ 
cut Experiment Station. He says it is a case where 
a nut-grass sedge has grown inside or through the 
potato, and formed one of its nuts or tubers within. 
It is a sedge that is found occasionally In wet fields. 
Prof. Clinton says that he has found it before now 
puncturing potatoes as shown in this sample. lie 
says that quack-grass will do the same thing, and in 
his last, printed report a picture is given of a po¬ 
tato thus invaded by quack-grass. We made a pic¬ 
ture of that tuber last Fall. Of course, such tubers 
have little or no market value, and as a rule it is not 
likely to occur except in a case here and there. 
This peculiar season seems to have upset even the 
dignity of Southern California. In that sunny land 
they have had so much rain that grain and Alfalfa 
harvests have suffered. 
