POTATOES

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 400, 14 July 1928, Page 26

POTATOES

SOME USEFUL HINTS A Necessity No home garden should be without its potato patch. Of all vegetable crops this is not only the easiest to grow, but such a sure cropper—even poor land furnishing a most liberal return. The potato is undoubtedly the most popular and certainly the most valuable of all the vegetables. The money expended on the purchase of this commodity by the community is enormous, and with very little trouble ou the part of every householder fortunate enough to possess a few square yards of workable ground, a tremendous saving could be effected. For the best returns good cultivation is essential. The Soil

The soil for potatoes should be thoroughly prepared and deep trenching and a liberal inclusion of welldecomposed farmyard manure worked well below. Wherever possible it is advantageous to plant whole tubers, particularly at this season of the year. For this purpose potatoes the size of a hen’s egg should be selected. Avoid misshapen specimens, or any diseaseinfeCted tubers. Get your supplies from a reputable house, and demand

hand-picked seed. Pay a little more if necessary. Anything larger than the size suggested should be divided into two or even three pieces, but it is not advisable to plant the cut portions until they are well sprouted. The Seed This may best be achieved by first dipping them in wood-ash to prevent bleeding, and laying them, cut portions downwards, on shallow trays or boxes in a dark place for a few days. Whole tubers are best sprouted by first laying them out in the cellar, or some other place excluded from light, and covering them with a wet sack. In the meantime the ground should have been thoroughly prepared by good digging and cleared of all weed growth. Work the surface soil to a fine tilth. Manures A little bonedust and superphosphate in the proportion of loz. of each to the square yard, supplemented by Joz. of sulphate of potash, scattered along and mixed with the soil at the base of the drills at the time of planting, will prove highly beneficial to the resulting crops. Regarding the qual-

ity required for the home plot, 141 b. of seed potatoes should be sufficient for 100 ft. of drill. If larger areas are to be planted, we would recommend 6 or S cwt. to the acre. Keep the ground free of weeds during growth, hill up when the plants are of an established size, and water liberally between the rows, without saturating the foliage, when the weather is dry. Kitchen slops are excellent for this purpose.