SEED POTATOES

Wairarapa Times-Age, 18 August 1939, Page 3

SEED POTATOES

TO OBTAIN MAXIMUM YIELD. I To obtain the maximum yield of potatoes it is necessary that the seed . tubers should be properly sprouted. In other words, they should not have a white, slender, easily broken sprout, but a firm green one. This is no new discovery, but it is astonishing to observe how often it is unheeded except by the most successful growers. To sprout the tubers, place them in full daylight a month or so before planting, giving them a place safe from frost where no artificial heat is applied. The staging of a cool greenhouse is a suitable place, but any light room will answer the purpose. Put the tubers in single layers in trays or boxes, standing the tubers on end with most eyes uppermost. The object of sprouting is to produce sturdy green sprouts which at planting time should be about lin long, and by following these simple instructions the crop will be ready to lift at least a fortnight earlier than when dormant seed is planted. Those who fondly keep their seed potatoes in a dark place should note the error of their ways, and remember that every anaemic-looking sprout is worse than useless, as it means so much exhaustion to the parent tuber.