VOL. XXXI.
INDIANAPOLIS, IND., MARCH 28, 1896.!
NO. 13
EXPERIENCE DEPARTMENT.
How  do  You Cut   and  Plant   Potatoes.
lst Premium.—The question how shall
we cut seed potatoes is no longer a puzzling one. It has been definitely answered by the experiment station of
most all potato growing States and the
result very generally arrived at is that
the larger the piece of seed potato
planted the greater will be the yield.
In cutting medium sized potatoes always have two or more eyes to the piece,
even though price of seed be rather high.
The increase in net value of crop will
much more than repay cost of the extra
amount of seed used. Of a year like this
when potatoes are so cheap we plant
very large pieces, or whole tubers when
only of medium size. It has been clearly
illustrated that such a course will increase the yield of marketable potatoes
75 to 100 bushels per acre.
In preparing the ground for potatoes, it
should be plowed rather deep, seven or
eight inches at least, then pulverize thoroughly with harrows. In marking oft
the land make the furrows 32 inches
apart. If rows are wider apart than this,
the plants will not properly shade the
ground and the land will not be utilized
to the best advantage. Mark the furrows
off with a large single shovel plow or
small breaking plow, and plant at least
five inches deep. Planted at this depth,
they can better withstand severe drouth,
and are also in the best shape for cultivation. If you have a large crop to plant,
do it with some good implement made
for the purpose. The machine will soon
pay for itself in the saving of labor.
O. M. Hadley.
County not named. Send us your P. O.
address.
2d Premium.—We select medium sized
potatoes, take them in barn and cut them
by hand a week or 10 days before plaut-
I ing, to one or two eyes in a piece. Plow
the soil as early as it will admit, so it is
dry and mealy and warm when planting.
Haul out stable manure, scatter thinly
over ground, plow eight or 10 inches deep,
harrow thoroughly and roll. Furrow
out, with single shovel deep; drop seed 14
to 16 inches apart, one piece in a place,
cover with harrow, cross wise; then roll
again. In a week harrow with fine tooth
harrow; then again just as plants begin
to peep through the ground.
Starke Co. D. C. Wamsley.
M Premium.—By examining a potato
we can see that the eyes are not opposite
each other, either lengthwise or crosswise of the potato, but that they run diagonally from the stem end to the blossom end. I usually cut potatoes into bits
having two eyes each. Commencing at
'he stem end, I cut the first set above the
second eye, and cut back to the center of
the potato at the stem end; then turn the
tuber a little and cut off the second set,
having two eyes by cutting to the center
of the potato and cut the remaining sets
'a the same way until I get to the blossom end; this I cut oft crosswise and divide it into three or four sets, as one
would cut a pie. I consider the blossom
"id the most vigorous part of the potato;
'' generally sprouts first, and throws out
jhe strongest sprouts. By cutting seed
■n this way, each set has about the same
Proportion of the old potato to feed on
"Dtil it throws out roots of its own. I
Plant potatoes by opening the furrows
*i'h a Bingle shovel plow, drop the seed
by hand and cover with a cultivator hav-
,a~; two shovels; throwing the dirt from
ea~h side onto the sets in the drill or row
[ -13 fast as a horse can walk.
Putnam Co. H. S. Blatchley.
In the first place I manure my ground
I "-"i get it in first-class order, I then lay it
off two feet and a half apart very deep
with a shovel plow which I use to cover
them with by going twice to the row. I
always cut my potatoes a day or two before planting. I like to give them a little
time to dry. 1 use large potatoes for seed.
If the eyes are thick on the little end I
cut it oft and then cut the potato in pieces,
leaving not more than one or two eyes to
the piece. After drying a few days I
then plant them as above described.
Harrison Co. Ben*. Williams.
REVIEW.
May I be permitted to suggest where I
think the above methods might be improved?
Mr. Blatchley should be careful in cutting the "seed end" like a pie, or he will
make the pieces too small. I often split
it once. T. B. Terry slices oft the tip,
leaving one eye a little to the side of the
end. Experiment shows that in the long
run and on good soil and tillage there is
practically no gain in cutting to two eyes
if you have fair sized "seed" over one
eye.
Any one planting 10 acres a year can't
afford to do without a planter.
I like Sir. Blatchley's method of covering better than that of Mr. Williams,
with his single shovel. If a drying time
like last spring I think Friend Williams
will waste lots of moisture from his rough
surface, all gashed up with furrows and
ridges, wv'le Mr. Blatchley would con-
sJeirve n_s/«_,.un. ~>e*'er *•-•" - Mr. Wanwley
would succeed far the best of all.
The harrow is in fact going to be used
far more than formerly in all cultivated
crops, and as long as dry seasons continue
we may use it with immense economy of
labor and of moisture. I saw a 20 acre
field of corn last fall that had been
"tended" exclusively with Breed's
weeder. It was a little grassy but was a
fine show for corn. I don't want to get
on the question of tending potatoes—that
will come later—but to cover with a harrow where planted by hand puts the seed
bed in a fine condition for future work.
I am surprised that two writers cut "a
week or 10 days" ahead of planting to
allow "drying."
The Burbank bears this with impunity
and I used to cut in my cellar on snowy
days in March, but the later varieties do
not come as strong for me and rot worse,
and I cut now and plant as fresh as possible.
In selecting seed one should not use
any tubers not of the general type of the
potato planted. I'd rather use a potato
as large as a hen's egg and shapely, than
a big rough wasp-waisted or prongy fellow.
Mr. Terry sells all his largest potatoes
and plants shapely mediums.
As to depth of planting—a "furrow" is
very indefinite.
. All roots grow from nodes or joints of
the stem, never between joints.
All potatoes are ou stems that come
from these same joints, and would have
made limbs if above ground. But underground they simply check the growth of
the end bud and swell into a tuber. The
eyes are the buds on the stem.
The Rural New Yorker says that shallow planting, say two or three inches'
gives little room for joints and also for
tubers, but that four inches deep gives
opportunity for a two-story hill, tbat is
more joints. Did you ever level oft nicely
the banks of your furrow and then uncover the seed piece and see how deep it
is? When you pride yourself that it is
four Inches, you will find it two or three
inches deep.
The potato naturally grows from deep
planting and does not object to it while
true seeds of most plants are accustomed
to shallow surface planting. Corn and
wheat jump right out of the ground and
grow near the surface.   Potatoes do  not.
The distance apart depends on variety.
Small  vines  come closer;  nature likes
them to be close enough so that matured
vines will cover the ground like a clover
meadow, and permit the tubers to form in
shaded, cool, damp soil.
I plant Ohios 28x12 inches; Yorkers
30xlG inches, etc. I find that in planting
with a machine, like Robbins or Aspln-
wall, so that the rows are equal distances
apart one can "tend" potatoes 2S inches
apart very easily.
—Let parties sending copy for this department be kind enough to write as soon
as you see the questions, and greatly
oblige. K. II. Collins.
No. 7. April 4.—Have you been successful in buying family supplies and farm
machinery at wholesale, and how is it
done?
No. 8. April 11.—How do you prepare a
seed bed for corn?—Selection and care of
seed?
No. 9. April 18. How do you plant and
cultivate corn?
No. April 25.—How do you fight drouth?
This Department is under the editorial
charge of E. II.Collins, Carmel, Hamilton
county, to whom all copy should be addressed.
Agriculture and Country Schools.
Editohs Isduna Fabmkh:
Probably more than 50 per cent of pupils of common school age belong to the
country—the sons and daughters of farmers— who receive no instruction*---}.st6V*er
in the schoolroom to prepare them, as
they should be, for a work upon which
depends their own livelihood, and the
necessary food supply of the entire country, and which is the chief source of our
national wealth, and also of legitimate,
individual wealth, and which employs
more people than any other work or profession.
Why is it that the principles or studies
which underlie successful agriculture in
its various branches, are not taught in
our country schools? I think the answer
is: Too few of our legislators understand the real needs of, or are not in sympathy with the farmer. And it is a deplorable fact that through lack of proper
instruction in the school rooms,the farmer
himself is ignorant of his own needs along
certain lines of knowledge, and is unprepared to successfully invoke such legislation as he, as a factor of the Government,
and in the development of the country, is
entitled to.
The State agricultural schools and experiment stations arc isolated institutions
for imparting more accurate intellectual
and practical knowledge to a few farmers,
and these have lately been supplemented
by the farmers' reading circles and county institutes—and I might add the winter's
short course—having a wider range of
usefulness, almost solely with reference
to adults; but the main target aimed at
should be the farmers' children, and the
firing should be done in the country
schoolhouse. Of course there are few
men—the February 8th Farmer gives a
good example on first page in the person
of Henry Baker, who by indomitable will
and good physical and mental "makeup,"
unaided by knowledge gained in schoolroom become successful farmers, and in
some cases, become acknowledged authorities on some agricultural subjects.
But such cases are rare, and will always
be too rare, until the masses of the farmers are reached by laying the true foundation for successful agricultural development, in all its branches, in the mind of
the child in the schoolroom.
Although agriculture cannot be studied
as an exact or unvarying science, owing
to the ever changing conditions of soil,
climate, etc., involving more or less
change in plant and animal kingdoms,
yet there are certain underlying principles which the latest researches in Botany, Biology, Chemistry, etc.,reveal, that
would be of incalculable value to the av
erage farmer if understood.
I hope the reader, also the country
school teacher, will not be frightened at
the names of the studies recommended,
for all that is necessary and meant to be
studied with reference to agriculture is in
Botany; the structure and growth of
plants in Biology; the life and development of farm animals in Chemistry. The
composition of plants and animals, and
the proper foods and treatment for their
healthy existence and best development.
No more interesting and satisfactory
studies to teachers and pupils of country
schools, could be suggested. The object
lessons are all around you. The habits of
closo and exact observations are cultivated, on which so much of the success
on tlie farm'depends. These subjects are
an endless source of investigation along
lines that bring us in close communion
with nature, which is always elevating to
the human mind.
How best to introduce into the schools,
and impart this necessary knowledge to
the farmers' children, which will make
farming so mind-developing, pleasant and
profitable, that a call to the President's or
Governor's chair will scarcely tempt the
bright farmer's son to leave the farm, or
the daughter to exchange her rural home
for an impecunious, foreign title, is the
question?
Suggestion:—From among the officers
of the Experiment station and Univer-
I sity at Purdue and other instructors in
**t}r-rSta*_i-, a comhriftee cuulci be"'■"*■"<_<*te*~
to compile or select suitable text booKs, **"
and at one normal term, with competent
instructors, the country teachers could
lay a satisfactory working foundation,
upon which they and the pupils could
build ad libitum. E. F. Dikhl,
Leesburg.
Fayette Co., Mar. 21.—Wheat" up to
date looks promising; not badly frozen
out, though the past week have had severe freezing with the fields bare and
bleak; the breaking plow has started for
spring planting, the land breaks up fine
and dry; strawberry beds do not look
promising, no runners of vinesonaccount
of last year's drouth, hope to get fine berries, however, from the main stock.
G. W. ]■:.
I.ai-orte Co., March 20.—Nice winter
at this writing, thermometer ranges from
23 to 41°; snow nearly every night and
thaws partly oft through the day; some
days are so warm the roads thaw enough
to get quite muddy on top. Wheat,65cts;
butter, 15cts; eggs, lOcts; stock generally
looking very well,although hayisgetting
very scarce; ground feed is fed by many,
corn and oats or oats and rye.
Mrs. B. A. Davis.
Floyd Co., March ISth.—We are having one of tbe worst snow storms of the
season, snow four inches deep on a level;
some of our sooner neighbors sowed
oats one week ago, but wish now that
they had not rushed the season; considerable plowing had been done before this
blizzard sot in, and in several localities
the clover worm was brought to the surface alive and kicking; how is this for
an early visit, are we to be eaten out by
them again this year? AV.m. II.
Decatur Co., March 20.—We have some
very wintery weather at present; snow
afternoon of 18th, 19th all day; 22° this
morning; 10 or 11 inches snow fell; fat
stock all sold ; some hog cholera; wheat
in bad shape and clover nearly all frozen
out Can't tell about fruit; you ask who
ever heard of grasshoppers in March?
Chinch bugs and grass hoppers were
both bad in 1.876; February, 1877 was very
warm and both hatched by millions;
March 17th was fearful cold and that
settled the question with both pests that
year, I hope it will be the case this year.
D. A. J.