December 1, 1909 
Cultivation of the Potato. 
By the Editor of the ‘ Queensland Agri- 
cultural Journal.’ 
(Continued from last Issue.) 
— The Least Expensive Way. — 
This laying out is one way of sprouting 
Potatoes which should be followed by 
“every attempts potato 
culture, 
treating them, and will always pay hand- 
Somely, as the first growth and subse- 
farmer who 
It is the least expensive way of 
quent results from prepared tubers are 
infinitely better than when they are 
taken straight from the heap and planted, 
Which very many are, unfortunately, 
But there is another way of sprouting 
Which is still better. This is to get a 
Number of wood trays from 2 in. to 3 in. 
deep, and of any width and length; from 
3 ft. to 4 ft. long, and 2 ft. to 3ft. wide, 
eo handy sizes. A little fine soil is put 
4n the bottom, and the tubers aro stood 
“Ho On end as close as they can be packed 
in the trays. The ends with the eyes or 
buds on them are kept up, and the trays 
mae placed in light. airy sheds, or such 
like places. Forcing them into growth 
18 mot advisable, the object being to get 
hardy little shoots on the tubers, which 
Will not be checked when they come in 
- Contact with the soil in planting. The 
towths should not be more than 1 inch 
long when planted, and } inch is quite as 
Useful a length. If trays cannot be 
Provided for all of them, there is no 
Teason why the whole should not be laid 
Sutin sheds, or the early scrts may be 
*Prouted in trays first, planted, and the 
trays again filled with late kinds. The 
“ight time to put them in 
trays is before the growth begins. 
: Sometimes there are blind tubers. When 
these are planted there is a blank, but in 
Sprouting none but growing tubers should 
he planted. If it is seen that the growths 
%@ likely to exceed 1 inch in length 
before they gan be planted, check them 
by admitting more air, but in doing this 
take care that a cold cutting wind does 
Rot reach them, and always be sure that 
€y are protected from frost if that is 
@ 
THE AUSTRALIAN GARDENER. 
occurring, When the tubers are quite 
dormant it is often a long time before 
growth shows above ground. It might 
often be earlier without much chance of 
being injured by frost. All, too, desire 
their crops as early as possible if grown 
to meet early markets, and there is no 
better way of helping them on than the 
process of sproating before planting, and 
having both tuber and growths in a 
sturdy, hardy condition when put in the 
soil. I have found thig brings the crops 
ina fortnight or three weeks sooner at 
digging time than dealing with 
unsprouted tubers or those sprouted in 
the heaps, and the yield is also better 
from sprouted than unsprouted sets. Do 
not run away with the idea that there is 
a good deal of fiddling labour about it, 
and ig not worth the bother, but look on 
it as a very important aid to successful 
culture and extra remunerative returns, 
and you will not be disappointed. 
There can be no doubt that seed pota- 
toes are weakened by the rubbing off of 
the shoots when they ‘haye sprouted 
badly, but that a good crop may be 
obtained from a second sprouting has 
often been proved. Potatoes have even 
been planted when every vestige of a 
sprout was rubbed off and not an 
unsprouted eye appeared, yet they sent 
up vigorous shoots. 
— Flowering and Seeding. — 
Under favorable conditions the potato 
plant flowers freely, and produces a green 
berry which contains the true seed of the 
plant, It is from the:e seeds that the 
different new kinds of potatoes ara pro- 
duced. I need not here go into’the 
matter of the production of seedling 
potatoes, as what is intended here is_ 
merely instruction to young farmers who 
have had little or no experience pre- 
viously in the art of successful potato- 
growing The work of raising new 
varieties is expensive and tedious, and is 
only undertaken by certain growers (as I 
shal! presently show when I come to the - 
cross-fertilising of potatoes), who practi- 
cally devote their lives to the business, 
sowing hundreds of thousands of seeds, 
to find sometimes only one new plant 
worth cultivating. 
19° 
The potato plant does not produce 
seed so freely in this State as in colder 
climates, and it is, perhaps, as well that 
it does not Hower heavily, since experi- 
ments on 
The Effect of Flowering of Potatoes, 
made by a German scientist, some years 
ago, to ascertain whether blossoming was 
detrimental to the development, of potato 
tubers, showed that the effort of the plant 
to provide for its reproduction by means 
of seeds seemed to result in a corres- 
ponding weakness in its root growth and 
in the size and numbers of the tubers. 
The experiments were carried out on a 
number of plots on similar soil, every 
condition being exactly the same. On 
one plot the plants were allowed to bloom 
as much as they liked, but the blooms of 
the plants in other plots were cut off at 
different times. The crop that had not 
been topped at all was the worst yield, 
and the best crop was the one that had 
been prevented from blooming by being 
topped at frequent intervals. Those that 
were topped at the latest stage of the 
plants’ growth were not so satisfactory as 
in the case of the crop frequently topped 
off. 
(To be Continued.) 
MY JEWELLER, 
. G. W. Cox, 
f i “Sy es 
GED AND 
LOCK REPAIRS. 
Good Work at Moderate Charges, 
Watches Cleaned from 2s. 6d. 
A well-selected stock of Watches and 
Jewellery at’ fair play prices, 
G: We COX, 
1 Rundle Street, peshive Corner 
And at 146 Rundle Street, 
E. BLACKEBY, 
BOOT & SHOE MANUFACTURER, 
226 Rundle Street, Adelaide. 
CUT SOLES A SPECIALITY 
NO 
