. Cyclopedia of farm crops. Farm produce; Agriculture. 522 POTATO POTATO spring and disked in. It is important for potatoes that there be plenty of humus, hence the crop is frequently grown after a crop of clover or on a two- year-old sod. It would do well after a much older sod,but there is likely to be trouble from wire- worms and white grubs; for this rea- son, when po- tatoes are to be planted on such land, it is considered. Ki*;; Fig. 747. A " long '' potato, with shaUow eyes; peels with little waste. advisable to follow another crop, such as oats or corn, by potatoes, which may then
. Cyclopedia of farm crops. Farm produce; Agriculture. 522 POTATO POTATO spring and disked in. It is important for potatoes that there be plenty of humus, hence the crop is frequently grown after a crop of clover or on a two- year-old sod. It would do well after a much older sod,but there is likely to be trouble from wire- worms and white grubs; for this rea- son, when po- tatoes are to be planted on such land, it is considered. Ki*;; Fig. 747. A " long '' potato, with shaUow eyes; peels with little waste. advisable to follow another crop, such as oats or corn, by potatoes, which may then be grown for two or three successive years if desired. If com- mercial fertilizers are applied, generally a complete fei'tilizer — containing nitrogen, phosphoric acid and potash—gives best results. Nitrate of soda is a good source of nitrogen for potatoes. Seed.—The seed tubers may be planted whole or cut; a piece weighing about three ounces, or as large as a good-sized egg, and having at least one good eye, being the most profitable. It pays to dig the heaviest-yielding plants by hand and save their progeny for seed. Heavy-yielding plants will gen- erally reproduce heavy yielders, and vice versa. The tubers used for seed should be sound, free from coarseness and second growth and be true to name. If planted in rows inches apart and the plants fifteen inches asunder in the row, it will require about seventeen bushels of seed per acre. The storage of seed is a very important factor. It should be kept in a cool, well-ventilated place to prevent much loss of weight, until ten or four- teen days before planting time, when it may be spread on the barn floor or in some well-lighted place, which will cause the seed to begin to grow before planting. The shoots made under such con- ditions will be very small. If the seed is scabby, or from .scab-infested land, it may be treated with formalin. [See next page under Enemies.] Seeding.—Planting may be done by hand or m
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