CAMBRIDGE FARMERS' CLUB

Waikato Times, Volume XIII, Issue 1109, 2 August 1879, Page 2

CAMBRIDGE FARMERS' CLUB

ESSAY ON POTATO CULTURE,

The following ia the Essay read by Captain Runcimau, at the meeting of the Cambridge Farmers' Club, held on Monday evening last : —

Mr President ahd gentlemen, — Th e subject which I promised to introduce' and say a few words upon, is the culture of potatoes.

The potato, as you are aware, is indigenous to America, and was introduced into Britain, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, but never became what might be called a crop of any prominence, till within the last 100 years. But now, the potato stands pre-eminent over all other tubers, as a food. From man, down to the meanest insect, all eat, and wiil live and thrive upon the potato. There is no vegetable that groAvs that is so universally esteemed. It takes a third position as a food for man (and in not a few, a first position). As artificial food, for all domestic animals, the potato has no equal. New Zealand is admirably adapted for tho culture of the potato, from the North Cape to Foveaux Straits, they grow, and grow Avell — as a whole, second to nowhere in the Avorld. I haA'e seen all kinds of crop, of potatoes, from two tons up to tAventy, and have heard of tAventy-four tons, but, from my oavii experience of the lart 25 years, I have never exceeded fifteen tons per acre. But my object this of ternoou, is not to go to either extremes, but to show (in my opinion) the best and most practical way to produce a good average crop of marketable potatoes. To begin with, the land best suited for their groAvth, is a lightish deep loam, with a good dry subsoil. The Waikato land, as a general rule, is specially Avell adapted for the culture of the potato. Now, the next thing, after haA'ing all the qualifica- | tions at our disposal, what is the best method of culture, to produce the best results ? My expei'ienco has given me the full conviction, there is no way so practicable that Avill produce a large quantity of equal quality, than ploughing in the potato seed every third furrow, from -1 to 4i inches deep, and 10 inches wide, from the oldest grassed land ; and the best time is, during the month of September (as the common phrase has it, uuder the sod), viz., if the land is suitable and capable. As to its capability, that is the farmers business to knoAV, by his own experience, whether the ground will produce a fair average crop or not, taking into consideration that the season is an ordinary one. If he is not certain, it is folly to attempt more than for his household requirements, for there are all the expenses attendent upon a poor crop that there are upon a good one. And, in my experience, no matter how good the land may be, I would recommend a smaller or larger quantity of a suitable artificial manure, from 2cwt. to lOcw't. of bone meal, or equal money's worth of suitable chemical manure. I have both had and seen most satisfactory results from what is locally known a3 Hurst's Mixture. They are both equally easy of application, but, from two experiments, I would recommend a mixture of equal quantities of each of the aboA r e named, and oqual money's worth per acre, as of the bonedust. Now, assuming your land would produce eight ton of potatoes per acre, without any manure, the use of eA-ery adkitional & worth, per acre, of either of the manures named, up to .-6 ; 3, will increase the crop of potatoes qno tqn per acre. The manure must be soavii in tho bottom of the furroAv, along Avith the potatoes.

The following experiment will shoAV the results of different manures. The potatoes were planted on the 21st Sept., 1877, one single drill, side by side, six chains long j-r-At the rate of lOcwt bono meal per acre, gave 6Golbs potatoes, or, at the rate of 14 tons ocAvt per acre. „ „ oewt bone mo?*.! per aero, gave 4001hs potatoes, or, at the rate of 1 1 tons per acre. „ „ scwt Hurst's mixture per acre, gave olOlbs of potatoes, or, at the rate of 11 tons 2cAvt per aore. „ „ scAvt superphosphate per acre, gave -io Gibs of potatoes, or, at the rate of 10 tons Gcwt per acre, „ „ 5001bs of coarse salt per acre, gave 26511)3 of potatoes, or, at the rate of 5 tons lGcwt per aore, Nothing (no manure) only the grass turned in, gave 3201ns of potatoes, or, at the rati? of 6 tons 18cwt per aci/e,

As to farmyard manure upon our light lands, if it is not applied some months (at least three) previous to planting tho potatoes, bettor leave it out, and apply it to the land intended for potatoes the following year. Where I havo had the best results from farmyard manure, was whore I applied it as a top dressing on the grass, the previous year, fed tho land so to speak. lam no advocate for ploughing doAvn a bare pasture upon the potatoe seed, as I luwe seen iuvariably practised, and done myself, from dire necessity, having kept the sheop in the field, until they were actually ploughed out. I belioA'e in turning in a two months growth of grass, if possible, but, iu a£l cases, rough or.

bare, to use the scimcoulter, cutting off about three-quarters of an inch deep, by hreo inches v/ide. Of 'course, that can nly be done Avell ?-hen using a tAvo--5 wheel plough. Some advocate a scarier, either attached to the plough, or following, Avith a single horse, loosening up the snbsoil. I have used it two years in succession ; one year upon 42 acres, and the next 3G acres of potatoes, and left certain parts without using it, but saAV no benefit from the part scarified. Not so Avitli the scimcoulter, for I could see, to a furroAV, where it was used, aud had at least one ton of potatoes per acre more. On a heavier class of laud, I would advocate skimming about tAVO to two and a-half inches deep, at least tAvo mouths previous to planting time, then plough in the potatoes, from four to five inches deep. The old British style of having all the land avcll worked, aud then drill in the potatoes, is a grevious mistake here. The harrow should be run once over the land, the same day tho potatoes .are planted, or Avithin a day or two, and then effectually harrow the whole, within a fortnight of being planted, then the scarifier should be run through the potatoes, as soon as the drills oan be folloAved ; then again a day or two before moulding up, which must be done by the time the tops are six inches high ; and, upon no consideration, move the soil when they begin to bloom. The next matter of vital importance, is the seed. There is not a whit of difference between cut and I uncut seed, of equal size, if the seed has 1 been previously properly selected. But, to secure a thoroughly genuine seed, it must have been groAvn under your oavu supervision, or some one equally interested, over at least tAvo years. I Avish you to understand, I am speaking of the potato, which is our most marketable potato, the Dentin, or, as is commonly called, the Hobartown. I consider there are very few avlio pay sufficient attention to the selection of seed potatoes. The proper tiuio to prepare the seed is, Avhlie the potatoes a.ie growing, and at the time of raising. When the portionjyou intend for seed are growing, carejshould be taken to haA r e all tho spurious tops pulled out by the roots. They are the first to bloom, invariably. The patch for seed, should be gone through, at least, thrise while blooming ; if that is neglected, you get a quantity from inoculation. Potatoe?, yelloAV inside, with deep eyes, and another kind, nearer in appearance to the Dvrwin, hut purple inside, are easy discovered while groAving. The leaves are broad and flat, and they bear a white blossom. Then, that portion required should always be dng by hand, by some one who will attend to the farmer's interest, aud every top . which produces a quantity of potatoes, should be kept back, and put away for use that year. Then keep the whole of the balance, except such as are under two ounces, which would be too small for seed by planting time, and less than luewt for each --.ere, intended to bo planted the following year, would be too feAV. It requires from 13 to 14cwt of seed to be a sufficient seeding for an acre. Less than tho quantity of seed, avouH be either too small, or the sets too Avide. [ Thirty inches between the drill, and tAvelve inches between the sets, is the orthodox width. If they are planted wider than that, the tops will not fully cover the ground. When at full gro fvth, anyone looking over the field, should not he able to tell whioh way the drills are. If the ground does not get fully covered with the tops, the roots suffer from the summer heat, in January and February. The potato crop, as a general rule, is ripe", and ready for raising in March, and ought to be taken out as soon as the skin is sufficiently hard on, not to ruffle Avhen handling — the potatoes keep better, and generally the quality is better. The next thing to be considered is, the raising. In my opinion, there is no Avay invented yet, that surpasses the old primitiA-e way of digging, but the expense, Avhere labor is high aud. scarce, prevents that plan from being generally adopted. ,The mode that is most generally practiced is, to take the coulter out of a common plough, and bore down through the centre of the drill, throAving the potatoes out to each side as much as possible. There is a potatoraiser that is commonly used by those groAving largo lots of potatoes, that fixes on to the drill plough, and doos its Avork better than the oommon plough. There is also a maohine in use hero, Avhich does its' work very Avell, if the land is perfectlyclean, and the potatoes haA-e been ploughed in A r ery light ; but where there are many weeds, it will not work well. I saAv, lately, a description of a potato-raiser having been invented in England, very highly spoken of, as surpassing anything yet brought into use. The next matter of importance is, the best method of storing potatoes. A rough shed, made up with fiue manuka (ti-tree), like botAveen two fences, five feet high, and not more than ten feet Avide, and a roof raised Avith common round, sticks, and, thatched, makes the best stqrlng house. Every tAvo feet of such a shed, Avill hold que ton of potatoes. I have never seen any system hero oqnal to this ono I have tried to describe, for preserving potatoes in good condition.