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Potatoes |
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Potato: If your
garden is a small one, buy your main supply of
potatoes from some nearby farmer, first trying half
a bushel or so to be sure of the quality. Purchase
in late September or October when the crop is being
dug and the price is low.
For an extra early and choice supply for the home
garden, start a peck or so in early March, as
follows: Select an early variety, seed of good size
and clean; cut to pieces containing one or two eyes,
and pack closely together on end in flats of coarse
sand. Give these full light and heat, and by the
middle to end of April they will have formed dense
masses of roots, and nice, strong, stocky sprouts,
well leaved out. Dig out furrows two and a half feet
apart, and incorporate well rotted manure in the
bottom, with the soil covering this until the furrow
is left two to three inches deep. Set the sprouted
tubers, pressing firmly into the soil, about twelve
inches apart, and cover in, leaving them thus three
to four inches below the surface. Keep well
cultivated, give a light top dressing of nitrate of
soda--and surprise all your neighbors! This system
has not yet come extensively into use, but is
practically certain of producing excellent results.
For the main crop, if you have room, cut good seed
to one or two eyes, leaving as much of the tuber as
possible to each piece, and plant thirteen inches
apart in rows three feet apart. Cultivate deeply
until the plants are eight to ten inches high and
then shallow but frequently. As the vines begin to
spread, hill up moderately, making a broad, low
ridge.
While big crops may be grown on heavy soils, the
quality will be very much better on sandy, well
drained soils. Planting on well rotted sod, or after
green manuring, such as clover or rye, will also
improve the looks and quality of the crop. Like
onions, they need a high percentage of potash in
manures or fertilizers used; this may be given in
sulphate of potash. Avoid planting on ground
enriched with fresh barnyard manure or immediately
after a dressing of lime. |
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