THE POTATO CROP

Wairarapa Times-Age, 12 April 1940, Page 8

THE POTATO CROP

DIGGING AND STORING. The potato crop has been splendid this year, and as there is a little dissease appearing on the foliage and stems it will be better to dig them if the skins of the’ tubers arc at all firm, before it reaches them. It does not spread readily during the kind of weather we are having at present, cool nights and bright, sunny days, but if we get warm, muggy, moist weather it will spread rapidly. By cutting off the shaws and burning them the spores of the disease will be removed, but there is nothing to be gained by keeping them in the ground after the shaws have been removed. When digging, be careful to get the fork well down under the tubers and not to prick or damage them. If the weather is dry they can be left on the surface for a day to dry, a few shapely, medium-sized tubers can be laid aside for next season’s planting, and these can be left exposed until they become more or less green. The table tubers can be collected and put into sacks, which should be placed in a cool, dark shed or cellar, if there is only enough for a few weeks, but if there is enough to last until the news ones are available next season they are better put into a clamp or pit. Select a well-drained part of the vegetable garden, pile up the tubers neatly in a conical heap, and then thatch this with a layer of straw or dry grass about six inches thick. Next cover the straw or grass with a layer of soil, also about six inches thick, dug from round the base of the clamp or pit. Beat the soil firmly, making the surface firm with the back of the spade, and place a twisted wisp of straw or grass in the top to act as a ventilator. Stored in this way. the tubers will keep quite fresh and firm until next spring, when they will have to be picked over and all sprouts removed.

CHRYSANTHEMUMS SUCKERS AND CUTTINGS. There are a few varieties of chrysanthemums that bear nearly all their young shoots suitable for cuttings on the lower part of the main stem. Where such varieties are grown, the early shoots (those produced now) should be cut off, for. if left on, they will only produce flower buds and will rob the plants of nourishment. After the shoots are cut off new one will grow, and will be more suitable for cuttings. It is just the same with regard to suckers growing from the soil. Those that are growing now must be cut off level with the soil. In due lime others will grow, and they can be secured and will produce roots quickly.

THE VIOLET GIVE IT ATTENTION. Violets whore loft alone will have made numerous runners; in fact, it will often be found that, the original plant has almost disappeared, owing to the strength being taken away by the runners. The plants should be gone over and these runners cut off. or at least some of them. Violets as a rule do not get a great deal, of attention and are often left entirely alone except, when in flower. Plants that have the runners regularly removed and the strength thrown into the central crown will always give the best blooms. The runners that arc trimmed off will be found in many cases to be fairly large and well rooted. and if these are taken and planted up in a well-manured, deeply-dug piece of ground, they will give some nice blooms towards the spring; if, during the following summer, they are kept clean of runners, they will make nice large plants that. will give air abundance of long-stemmed large flowers. A pinch of nitrate of soda put around each plant and well watered in will be found to give a push to the plants after the hot. weather.