a sharp pointed kernel. Popcorn is grown the same as field corn and should be planted about 80 rods from other varieties of corn or it will cross with them. The corn pops best when two years old. The diseases and insects af- fecting popcorn are the same as those described under corn.
POTATO:
Common field and garden plant, or one of the tubers borne by the plant; about 200,000,000 bushels are grown annually in the United States.
Soil—A rich, sandy loam well drained and well sup- plied with vegetable matter'is best. Stiffer land may be improved by green manuring and drainage, and lighter soils can often be made sufficiently rich by the addition of green manures and fertilizers. Newly cleared land is excellent, giving a good yield.
Potatoes should be alternated with other crops to prevent scab. Barnyard manure is the best fertilizer, but should be applied to the ground a year or two before the land is cropped to potatoes. If commercial fertil- izers are used, a mixture containing nitrogen in form of nitrate of soda, phosphoric acid as superphosphate and potash as sulphate, and in which potash is strong, is rec- ommended. Preparation of land should be deep and thorough.
Planting.—Planting without ridging generally affords the larger yields, but a stiff soil and the desire for an extra early crop sometimes calls for ridge planting. The best time for planting depends upon the local climate.
It should be so timed as to bring the period when the tubers are rapidly forming, at a date when there is a good average rainfall. Planting is done by machine, dropping by hand and plowing in or covering with a hand hoe. Rows should be 3 feet apart and the seed pieces 16 to 18 inches apart in the row. On mellow, well- drained soil, deep planting (3 to 5 inches) is best, especially when the season happens to be dry. For the early crop or on stiff soil with a tendency to bake the depth of planting may be decreased.
It is generally advisable to plant 15 to 30 bushals of seed (halved or quartered potatoes) per acre.
Seed Potatoes The tuber should be cut into compact pieces of nearly uniform size, the majority of pieces hav- ing two, three or more eyes.
46 THE FARMER'S ENCYCLOPEDIA.
Cultivation —A harrow with the teeth set backward should be run over the ground just as the plants appear above the ground. This will destroy the young weeds and will not harm the plants. When the rows are cul- tivated they should not be hilled up, particularly if there be any danger from dry weather. The ground be- tween the rows should be kept mellow and level, a small ridge being worked toward the hill about blossoming time.
Harvesting.—For early use dig as soon as the tubers are large enough to eat. The main crop is dug only when the vines die. Often the tubers are allowed to remain in the ground until the first light frosts. Digging is done on a large scale by use of one of several machines on the market or by means of a potato fork. Potatoes are commonly stored in the cellar for winter use or sale though well banked and covered field pits are used where the yield is large and the sale not immediate. Stored potatoes will stand 33° F., without freezing, and should be kept from warmth, which favors sprouting.
Varieties.— The following are among the most widely known varieties:
Early.—Early Ohio, Early Rose, Beauty of Hebron, and Triumph. Medium and late—Burbank, Rural New Yorker No. 2, Empire State, Mammoth Pearl, White Star and Dakota Red.
These are standard varieties, and though not necessarily the best, they seem to have given general satisfaction.
Double Cropping.—In the south two crops of potatoes are- frequently grown in the same year on the same land. Small potatoes from the early crop furnish the seed and are usually planted whole. Second crop potatoes keep better than first crop for keeping and are popular for seed.
Diseases.— Brown rot occurs in many parts of the south, attacking egg-plants and tomatoes as well as potatoes. The vines suddenly wilt, the vines and stems turning black or brown, after which the tubers rot. Spraying such as rec- ommended for early blight is the remedy.
Early blight, checking the growth of the tuber as soon as the plant is attacked, shows in small, gray spots after- wards becoming brown and dry, the entire leaf afterwards turning brown and curling up. Spraying with Bordeaux mixture will check its ravages.
This is prepared and applied as follows: Pour into a fifty-gallon barrel twenty-five gallons of clean water; then weigh out six pounds of crushed bluestone, or copper sul-
POTATO. 47 phate, and after tying it in a piece of coarse sacking sus- pend the package just beneath the surface of the water by means of a string tied to a stick laid across the top of the barrel. In another suitable vessel, such as a tub or half barrel, slack four pounds of fresh lime. Slack the lime carefully by pouring on small quantities of water at a time, the object being to obtain a smooth, creamy liquid, free from grit. When the lime is slacked add sufficient water to make twenty-five gallons. As soon as the bluestone is dissolved, which will require an hour or more, pour the lime milk and bluestone solutions together, using a separate barrel for the purpose and stirring constantly to effect a thorough mixing. It sometimes happens that sufficient lime is not added, and as a result the foliage may be injured. To be certain that the mixture is safe, hold a steel knife blade in it for two or three minutes, and if the polished surface of the blade shows a copper-colored tinge add more lime, but if it stays bright the mixture is safe to use. Applica- tion of the mixture should begin when the plants are four to six inches high, and should be repeated at intervals of twelve to fourteen days until five or six treatments have been made. By adding eight ounces of Paris green to each barrel of the Bordeaux mixture a combined fungicide and insectide is obtained, and this will prevent the attacks of © the Colorado potato beetle, the flea beetle, and other in- sects. Before adding the Paris green it should be mixed with a small quantity of water, and when a thin paste is obtained this should be thoroughly stirred into the barrel of Bordeaux solution.
Scab, a fungous growth affecting the tuber, is often found after heavy applications of stable manure. A mix- ture of 8 fluid ounces of commercial formalin (40 per cent formic aldehyde) with 15 gallons of water, usea as a dip for seed potatoes is the best remedy.
Late blight, attacking the leaves, stems and tubers, is a rapid-spreading disease which should be treated thee same as early blight.
The Colorado potato beetle is one of the most common pests, the striped beetles and their raddish larve being familiar to every farmer. In gardens they are sometimes gathered by hand and destroyed by burning or with gero- sene. In the field, Paris green or London purple mixed with flour or plaster or in solution for spraying is the com- mon remedy.
The stalk weevil, an ash-gray beetle sometimes infesting the potato, may be destroyed by spraying.
48 THE FARMER’S ENCYCLOPEDIA.
The potato worm of the Pacific coast which bores in the stalk, later working down to the tuber, may be destroyed by burning the tops as soon as possible.
Blister beetles, so named from the irritation produced on the skin when encountered, attack many cultivated plants as well as potatoes. Arsenical poisons are fatal to them or they may be destroyed by knocking off into water having kerosene on the surface.
Many other insects attack the potato, such as various wire worms, beetles, ete.