November 1 1909 
Cultivation of the Potato. 
“By the Editor of the ‘Queensland Agri— 
cul ural Journal.’ 
(Continued from last Issue.) 
In adopting the principle of the single 
-eye culture, itis requisite that the eye 
should be taken from large or averaged 
“sized potatoes, for the smaller the potato 
The 
crown eye always grows the strongest, and 
The eyes 
‘taken from the middle of the potato 
the weaker its producing powers, 
“produces the largest potatoes. 
produce the best- shaped and most uniform 
“tubers. 
There are several ways of cutting the 
‘potato into single eyes. The principal 
‘thins to aim at is, to obtain a fair share 
of flesh of the tuber to each eye, with the 
‘least amount of cut surface. Take any 
potato and hold it before you with stem 
end down. 
‘are arranged around the tuber in regular 
‘ascending rotation from the bottom to the 
“top, similar to the thread of a corkscrew. 
You will notice that the eyes 
Now, take a sharp thin-bladed knife and 
remove the first eye by placing the knife 
equally distant between it and the eye 
next in rotation above it, sloping it to the 
indenture left by the stem, removing the 
flesh with it. 
When the first eye is removed, turn the 
potato in your hand till the next eye 
‘appears ; remore this in the same manner, 
and keep on turning the potato, removing 
each eyo as it appears. These setts 
should be planted as soon as cut, and a 
little hot lime thrown over them will 
absorb the moisture, prevent prematu-e 
‘decay, and also the attacks of insects. 
The , 
Scarcely be adopted by a farmer who 
As an 
“experiment, it is, of co rse, very inter- 
above method could, however 
plants large areas of potatoes. 
esting and instructive, and useful as being 
‘4 simple means of increasing valuable new 
Varieties of potatoes. 
Some farmers utterly condemn the 
time-honored practice of cutting up the 
Potato into setts. One man says:—In all 
the trials which have been recorded of the 
Potato crops produced from cut and uncut 
« 
THE AUSTRALIAN GARDENER. 
seed, I have never met with an instance 
of the cut tubers yielding the most or 
best. This fact must surely be generally 
known, and it is most surprising that it 
is not acted on. The process of cutting 
may increase the setts by about 30 per 
cent., but, if the time taken in cutting 
them, and the decreased yield be taken 
into consideration, no advantege what- 
ever is secured, but the reverse. A 
man is far better off with a piece of land 
planted with 25 or even 30 ewt. of whole 
tubers than if it were planted with 1 ton 
cut up to cover the same space. If 
cutting the potato is done to save seed, 
that is a very poor reason. 
In dealing with the cutting of potatoes 
the larze tubers are mostly cut into three 
pieces, the medium ones into two, and 
the small ones are let go whole. Plant 
the best and largest cut sett side by side 
with a old tuber; it will invariably be 
found that the whole tuber produces the 
greatest number of potatoes, and certainly 
the largest ones. The difference in favor 
of the whole sett, I have frequently found 
to be 2 lb to one plant, and imagine what 
this means in the caso of thousands or 
tens of thousands of plants. The scarcer 
and more expensive a variety is, the more 
it is cut; and, consequently, the worse for 
the crop, and productive of certain 
degeneration. It appears to the writer 
from his own practical experience, that, if 
potatoes are cut into setts with at least 
three eyes, the result is equally as good as 
when the whole tubers are planted, and 
thet in the latter case there ‘will be a 
larger proportion of small potatoes. 
-— Sprouting Seed Potatoes Before 
Planting. — 
This is more often practised by cullti- 
vators of gardens than on the farm, but 
it has some decided advantages which all 
potato-growers may benefis by. 
S ed potatoes are often badly prepared 
for planting, and still more ofien are not 
prepared at all. Asa rule, they are kept 
in heaps in the barn or in bags till they 
are wanted in February orin August, or 
in a damp shed, where it is usually found 
that the growths have made considerable 
progress The sprouts may be 2, 3, or 4 
in. in Jength. They grow over and 
amongst the tubers like a network, and > 
19 
the greater part of them are broken off in 
moving the tubers, or before they can be 
separated. Many have little regret in 
doing this. They think it is necessary, and 
it is; butit is also exceedingly harmful, and 
this ought to be remembered, az 
deteriorated seed is always more or less 
unproductive. Fancy what the result 
would be were we to allow our corn to 
The excuse 
is that potatoes will resprout, and they 
will; but never so robustly as in the first 
instance. These long growths take a 
great deal out of the tuber which ought 
to be kept in reserve to facilitate the 
the ordinary growth in the soil, and 
superfluous growth should be wholly 
prevented. This is easily accomplished 
if given timely ettention, and I would 
urge growers that they look to their seed 
tubers at once. | 
sprout unduly before sowing! 
The first treatment should consist of 
preventing the growths from becoming 
long or of a pale color, which occurs when 
they are kept inthedark. Begin keeping 
them in the right way by turning the 
tubers over and removing any diseased 
one meets with. Donot put them in a 
heap again, bat lay them out in a single 
layer on the barn floor ‘or some other 
building where they will be fully exposed 
to the light and receive a good deal of 
air. This will not only check the pro- 
duction of long, weakly shoots, but it 
will green and harden the tubers, and 
thisisa great benefit to them, as a 
greered tuber is much more hardy to 
come in contact with the soil than one 
that has been kept from light and air for 
six month or more. The growths, which 
will be slowly produced when laid out in 
a single layer and in light and air, will be 
short and robust and altogether different 
and superior to the shoots drawn up in 
the heap. 
(To be continued ) 
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