POTATO CULTIVATION.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1639, 4 January 1913, Page 8

POTATO CULTIVATION.

A NEW, MOULDING PROCESS. ; ;' , ' It is only within recent years that leading potato-growers have-"coirio to recognise the'closo' relationship between the manner . in ;which potatoes are moulded and the presence'or absence of in their crops. Very many producers, indeed, are . not yet aware.of the importance of this fact. Tho explanation is very simple, and must'appeal at once to the practical mind. When tno ridges have been thrown up with the ordinary .plough, it is invariably the case'that the earth dues.not pacK up closely against tho haulius, and right along the top remain channels Of considerable depth in which large' quantities of rain collect. "The holding or the water in this way is followed by stagnation; inducing a fungus, which attacks the leaves and spreads disease. Tms connection oi cause'and effect is now so._ far : realised that ina,ny growers tako the precaution of packing the moulding by hand,labour, so that a perfect watershed may be formed and the haulms protected from rottenness. This practice is extensively adopted in Ireland and elsewhere. Its cost is heavy, but it has been found that the increased soundness of. the crop and the larger yield amply warrant tho extra expenditure. 1 The problem, it would appear, is so to improve the moulding'process ns to reduce it to the one. operation, ensuring economy of working as iwell as effectiveness. This (says a i southern, exchange) seems to have been satisfactorily solved by Mr. 'Br. B. D. Walker, of Blenheim, who has invented a scheme of rolling and packing the mould, by means of light hollow cylinders or drums attached to the crosv bar .of the plough. Two of these cylinders, constructed of sheet iron, are used, and 'they -'run along at an.angle in the drills, closely following the shai'e. The,earth as it is thrown up is pressed in against the haulms, and made to form an sloping ridge with a. sharp summit. , . At a private demonstration carried'out - last week on a field of potatoes being'/' raised 1 by Mr. G. Wilidleburn, Middle Renwick;Road, the invention is said to hnye done its work splendidly. With, each ridge a perfect watershed ;was formed. Tho earth was brought right into, the stalks, reliably compacted, and left without tho. slightest indication of a hollow on tho summit. With such a formation water must run right off the slope to the bottom of the drill. It hasto be said, too,-, that the use of the cylinders adds practically nothing to the ; traction of the plough. The man at the handles expressed . himself as agreeably surprised, and said that the plough ran along with ease and facility. It was noticeable that the cylinders, though they ensure the closest of packing, did riot the'slightest injury to tho haulms. Not one stalk was dragged out or one root disturbed. The cylinders aro easily attachable' to .the plough, and with the turning of a 6orew they may be ■ .tilted, if necessary, to suit whatever, inequalities there may be iri tho different drills. : It might be ; possible to perfect the invention in regard to slight details, but tho main principle seems to meet the case admirably. Mr. Walker, who proposes to give a public trial of the process this week, has already secured lotters of protection in the patent office. Several growers who have seen the cylinder process in operation unreservedly praiso it. Mr. Alexander Millar, of Lyttolton, writes that he is convinced it will supply a long-felt want by potato-growers. "In a dry season," ho says, "it would help to conserve the moisture in the drill, while in wot weather the consolidated .crust on the outside of tho drill would prevent too much damp from percolating tho soil. A-greater advantage still is tho safeguard formed ngainst tho ravages of blight, a disease which has now become so prevalent as to render potato-growing in New Zealand moro or less a precarious industry. ..' . . From my long experience of potato culture in Ireland, I have no hesitation in saying that Mr. Walker's invention should bo found most beneficial to all growers of tho potato crop." Mr. Voss, a'leading grower nt'Willowbridge, has also commended tho principle . of tho cylinders.