POTATO-GROWING.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1517, 13 August 1912, Page 8

POTATO-GROWING.

EXPERIENCE AT KUAKUItA. The number of now varieties of potatoes brought forward and placed on the market during tho lmt few years has been prodigious and the problem of which is tho' best is thus being intensified each year. Experience, however, teaches, and tifler handlinpf over thrco ( hundred varieties in the past five years, Mr. A. \V. Green places tho following notes in the "Journal of the Department, of Agriculture" for the information of farmers:— "As an all-round main crop potato I give preference to Up-to-Dato amongst ■all varieties. • Many may not agree with mo on this point, but I may suggest that their principal reason in differing will be on account of its susceptibility to blight. It, is of excellent quality, for table use, ideal in shape, shallow in the eye, of a white skin, and, above all, a constant and heavy cropper, yielding a' large .average-sized potato. With systematic spraying with bordeaux mixture the Up-to-Dnte at Euakura Farm of In-, strnction has never yet failed to yield a heavy, clean, and payable crop of tubers. No other potato adapts itself equally well to such a- variety of soils, or to so wide a range of season during which it may be successfully planted. ;To those who cannot attend carefully to .spraying, or find that. Up-to-Date blights in their locality,. I recommend Northern Star. This variety has been proved to resist blight to a greater extent than most others. It nevertheless has two drawbacks.. is its inferior finality; the other its liability to produce second growth from the tuliers. The average size of the potatoes in a crop of Northern Star at Rnakura seldom readies .that of .Up-to-Date. On a dry, loose loam tha quality of Northern Star is improved. It may possibly be planted earlier, but not so late, as Up-to-Date. To those who wish to grow for early market, either Henderson's Early Puritain or Abundance is good." _ A, most promising, highly blight-resist-ing variety is Southern Cress, but it requires ■ further testing before its meritscan be accurately determined. There is little doubt the old early variet- Lapstone Kidney, which was favourite before blight became so prevalent, has been difficult to replace.