SPROUTING POTATOES.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXIX, Issue 8234, 12 September 1906, Page 3

SPROUTING POTATOES.

((Compiled by J. G. Wilson, President of the Farmers' Union.)

The blight which has devastated our potato-crop haa oaused growers to think of what can be done to cope with this serious trouble. To assist in this matter we can gain much from the experience of growers elsewhere, corroborated by such trials and excel intents as havw been made here. The first object that a potatogrower has in view ia !o insure a vigorous growth iu the plant, and so havo a good constitution to resist the attack of the various blights to which the potato ia liable. It would seem that we must realise that these blights will now always be with us, and although the seßsou may be a predisposing cause in some instances, or the reverse, we ranst prepare for the worst, as the potato ia Buoh n genoral article 0.. food and cannot well be done without. R Io gßt this vigorous growth let os begiu with the seed. It has been found in other counties that "pitting" soed potatoes in bo.\oa has always shown a good reciilt—in some cases to n lnrt!o extent, Lspeoiallv so in this case with early potatoes. Mr Speir, in an aiticle on boxing seed potatoes, iu the Highland and Agricultural bociety Jouindl, says:—' Comparison between the buus uf Boxed and Unboxed Potato-sets. — The buds ou i potato a* ordinarily seen when taken from a jotato pit \or heap are usually white, brittle, slender in the stem, long-jointed, and with a very weak attaohmnet to the tuber. Under suoh circumstances tim growth is very easily broken off at the base or across the middle, either of which mishaps would materially reduce the pro duce "of the plnt.t. In boxed seed, not too and exposed to moderate . light, the growths are bluish-green in colour, thick iu the 'Stem, short-jointed, very elastic, and tough, and have a firm attachment to the tuber. Although biish green is the prevailing colonr for most varieties of potatoes which have had their sprouts fuily exposed to light and air, it is not the only one, as, each variety has a tint peculiar to itself. These tints extend from red or pink through blue and green. With ordinarily careful handling the growths run little risk of breakage, bat the manner of handling the seed must be very different from th«t of unsprouted potatoes." Toe firet shoot ia always the strongest, and in Jersey, where the -earliest potatoes are grown for the London market, this first shoot is ÜBed for sets. Since the new varieties have been produced and seed bought at con- - siderable expense, it has become -almost universal to use boxes or trays to keep seed potatoes in. 'lhese oan be filled any time until the buds begin to swell, but it is best done when thd seed potatoes are picked out. They are so constiucted as to be strong enough to carry 201b. of potatoes, and can be packed away in tiers in any outhouse (unless where frosts pre too severe, and then theiy must have some covering or a kerosene lamp burned at night), and as a rule require care until plantingtime. If, however, planting is desired early a little heat will cause the potatoes to sprout, and shifting to a colder store will retard the growth, They-should have a fair amount of light, as darbness weak ens the shoots and tends to 'elongate them. What is wanted ace thick, stubby, shoots, and the ■length recommended is in. to % in. The potatoes are oest placed »-y hand with eyes upwards, but if this entails too much labour "thejr can be tumbled in anyhcw. as those in the bottom will seud up sprouts through the spaces between the top ones." (Sussex Potato-grower). Timber required for each box.— (1.) 'Xwo sides, 2 ft. fcy 3 in. and % in or CK in.) thick. (2.) Two ends, i two upper ends for the handle bar six pieces for the bottom, each 1 ft. by 3 in. and % in. tor % in.) thicu;. (3.) Four corner pieces 7 in. long, and one handle-bar , 2ft, long, all 1 in. by 1 in. The Jersey box has the bottom boards nailed on lengthwise; but nailed crosswise they stiffen the box considerably., and it ia astonishing how strong the box is. The Scotch boxes are made 2% ft. by ft. and 4 in. deep. There are many reasons why boxed seed is better than pitted seed besides those already mentioned. If the seed, requires dressing to kill the spores of the Irish blight, the boxes oan be easily dipped into a bath containing a weak solution of Bordeaux mixture, and the whole of the seed thus wetled. The 'shuot comes through the ground a fortnight earlier than from ordinary seed poatoes, and thvjsthey oan be sown later, and yet the orop will be as early and avoid frosts. They are more easily handled. The boxes, when made in large quantities in Ireland, are said to oost £1 10s per 100 ; but the price here, if made of white-pine, is about JE3 15a, or 9d each. JJut if the timber be bought, and the odd wet dayH devoted to making boxes, no doubt they would be made for less—probably Gd eaob. If carefully put away they shuuld last for some years. The proper care of the seed is not the only th>ng necessary for vigorous crop. The land must be properly worked and manured. Perhaps no better guide can be taken than Professor Wright, of the West of Scotland Agricultural College, who has made some very careful 'experiments on the subject of manures for potato-orops. He says, "The most effective dressing was found to consist of 6 cwt, to 7 cwt. per acre of a manure containing 4 per cent of ammoniu, 18 per cent of soluble phosphate, and 12 per cent of potash." Mr Robert Re>d, a delegate from Canterbury at the last Agricultural and Pastoral Conference, said, "They had only been able to grow some years ago with ordinary cultivation and with no manure about 5 tnnß of potatoes to the acre. He had adopted the plan put forth by the West of Sootland Agricultural College, and the result was that they, raised something like 26 tons of potatoes to the acre at, a, cost of about £2.*' He explained that in the autumn he ploughed the ground intended for

potatoes, and sowed 6 cwt. of manure to the acre; this was harrowed in and left to the spring, when the land was again worked up and drilled with a Planet J. plough. The potatoes were planted in the drills, and these w«fe then split with the same implement to cover the tubers. This is the regular way in Scotland. Ihe choice of variety must be left to the grower, but of late years the consensus of opinion ia that there has never been such a successful potato as the Up-to-date, but that this variety has lost some of its original vigour.