This crop requires considerable hand-work in thinning and weeding, and the sandy soils are most easily worked. As a general rule, it is well to plant onions after a crop that has been cultivated and kept free from weeds the previous season. In northern Nevada sow as early in the spring as the soil can be worked. In the south, onion sets are frequently put out in the autumn and carried through the winter with the protection of a little hay or straw. Three methods are used for propagating onions: First, by sowing the seed in rows where the crop is to grow; second, by sowing the seed in especially prepared beds and transplanting the seedlings to the open ground; and, third, by planting sets which have been kept through the winter. The first method is used by large commercial growers on account of the amount of labor involved in the others. Onions planted from sets will ripen earlier than those from seeds sown in the fields. The best varieties are Danver's Yellow Globe, Prize Taker, and Red Wetherfield. Oyster-Plant See Carrots for cultural methods. Parsnips See Carrots for cultural methods. Peppers Seeds of peppers should be sown in a hot-bed or in a box in the house about eight weeks before the time for transplanting in the garden. The plants are tender, and should not be transplanted until the ground is warm and all danger of frost is past. Set the plants 15 to 18 inches apart in rows 2 to 3 feet apart. The cultivation and treatment of peppers should be the same as for tomatoes and egg-plants. There are a large number of varieties of peppers including the sweet kinds and the hot peppers. The following varieties are recommended: Ruby King, Sweet Mountain, Bell, or Bull Nose, of the sweet peppers; Long Red Cayenne or Red Cluster, of the hot peppers. Potatoes1 The potato occupies an important place in the diet of our entire population. It is not a difficult crop to grow under irrigation, and requires much less attention than a variety of vegetables planted in the same area. It will thus be possible for many people in Nevada, who cannot devote the time required for a vegetable garden, to plant small tracts of potatoes. By following the instructions included in this pamphlet the crop will be grown with the least possible amount of labor, and at the end of the season the family will have on hand a year's supply of potatoes. Soils for Potatoes-The potato requires a fertile mellow soil, either a sandy or clay loam, well supplied with organic matter. The cultivation is easier on the sandy loams, and the danger of overirrigation is less, although, when properly handled, the clay loams produce equally well. Soils rich in humus or vegetable matter are especially well suited to potato culture; thus no other staple crop grown in Nevada is so well adapted to old alfalfa land. Preparing the Ground for Planting The ground should be cleared of all rubbish, such as rocks, bricks, boards, chips, and weeds, for, if 'Nevada Agricultural Experiment Station Bulletin 87. turned under by the plow or spade, they will prevent the seed-bed from packing sufficiently for the uniform and rapid germination of the seed after planting. The ground should be plowed or spaded at least 8 inches deep as soon as possible, care being taken not to work the ground when too wet, which is indicated by the soil sticking to the shovel or plow in turning. The same day the ground is plowed or spaded it should be harrowed or raked, and a coarse-dirt mulch left on the surface. This coarse mulch prevents rapid evaporation, and after a rain is easily renewed. If a fine-dirt mulch is made after spading or plowing, a heavy rain will pack the surface to such an extent that a new mulch is difficult to prepare. The ground should remain in this condition from 1 to 3 inches until planting-time to furnish a firm seed-bed for uniform germination of the seed and rapid development of the young plants. Liming Heavy Soils-Considerable of the soil in Nevada is heavy clay that is prepared for crops and cultivated with some difficulty; Fig. 6-Excessive Sprouting saps the vitality of the Potato for Seed. also, when the proper hoeing and cultivation is not given, the results are often unsatisfactory. This objection can be largely overcome by applying gypsum when preparing the ground for planting. Two methods may be used to apply the gypsum. If the ground is to be spaded by hand, the gypsum can be spread over the area quite uniformly with a shovel, and when the ground is spaded the lime is turned under with the inverted soil. If the ground is to be plowed, the gypsum may be applied with a shovel after plowing, and later covered by the harrow in the preparation of the seed-bed. Ten pounds of gypsum should be used for every 100 square feet of surface. Irrigation Before Planting-If irrigation is necessary before planting, it should be given before the ground is spaded or plowed. The coarse-dirt mulch left on the surface by the rake retains sufficient moisture in the soil for sprouting the seed and for the early development of the plant. An irrigation after spading would cause the soil to pack too much, and a second spading would be required. Seed-The Nevada Agricultural Experiment Station has tested a number of varieties during the past four years and recommends the following early and late varieties: Early varieties: Early Russet, Early Red, Early Ohio. An important factor in growing potatoes is the treatment of the seed for the prevention of scab and other diseases. The following treatment is recommended: All seed potatoes should be soaked in a solution of mercury bichloride (corrosive sublimate), 4 ounces to 30 gallons of water, for 1 hours. Formalin treatment will not kill rhizoctonia as completely as mercury bichloride. The solution should be placed in a wooden barrel or tank. It corrodes metal. It should be poured out Fig. 7-The Ideal Stage of Sprouting for the Seed Potato. and made up fresh after it has been used to disinfect four lots of potatoes. It is poison to eat, but not to the touch. Treated potatoes should not be eaten or fed. After the potatoes have been treated, they should be stored in new sacks which have been similarly disinfected in the solution. Another important factor is the cutting of the large potatoes into small pieces to increase the acreage to the greatest possible extent. Cutting the Seed-The potatoes should not be cut in pieces less than 1 ounce in size, and the best crops will be obtained where the pieces are from 1 to 2 ounces. The seed-piece should be large enough to give the plant a good start. Each piece should have two good eyes. Where more than this number of eyes is present and also with pieces 2 ounces or more in weight, the soil must be very fertile and the seed-pieces planted farther apart in the rows; otherwise the percentage of small tubers may be too great.. A good method to follow in cutting the seed is to begin cutting from the stem end, diagonally across the potato, being careful to cut the seed end so that too many eyes are not left on one piece. Rate of Seeding-Where 1-ounce seed-pieces are used, the potatoes should be planted in rows 3 feet apart and about 15 inches apart in With 2-ounce seed-pieces the distance apart in the row may be 18 inches. The amount of real seed required per acre with different-sized seedpieces is shown in the following table: Planting-In most parts of Nevada the late potatoes are planted etween May 1 and 20, usually about 4 or 5 inches deep, on land spaded or plowed at least 8 inches deep before the 1st of May. Ön small tracts a common method of planting is to plow the land allow and drop the seed in every third furrow. A large number of the home potato patches, however, will be too small for the use of the 6 Fig. 8-A Potato weighing 10 to 12 ounces properly cut for seed. plow, in which cases the planting may be done with the use of the shovel or hoe. On a small tract it is advisable to mark out the land in checks, so that the hills of potatoes will be uniformly spaced. Irrigation-The potato rows should be hilled up with good deep furrows between them, so that, when irrigated, the water will supply the deep-feeding roots, but will not come in contact with the tubers. A too common error with the potato grower is the use of shallow furrows for carrying the water. The chief danger is in saturating the ground around the tubers, causing the soil to become hard and compaet, a very undesirable condition for the development of a good hill of uniform potatoes. It is thus very important to use light irrigations in good deep furrows. In the irrigation experiment with potatoes conducted at the Nevada Agricultural Experiment Station, the results of the test for the first four years favor the 3-inch irrigations as compared with 6- and 9-inch applications. The most practical results were obtained with six 3-inch irrigations, or a total of 18 inches of water, given when the plants showed a tendency to wilt. In the irrigation of potatoes, the best results were obtained when the first irrigation was withheld until the plants turned a darker green color, but had not wilted. This condition permitted the greatest possible root development to supply the necessary food for a maximum crop. Early irrigation, before the plants showed any need of water, greatly retarded the proper development of root system and resulted in a decreased yield of potatoes. After irrigation had started, it was found very essential never to allow the plants to suffer for lack of water during the growing season. Where any plants wilted slightly after irrigation commenced, the growth of the plant was greatly checked, and the yield and quality of the tubers were seriously affected. The potato crop should never be irrigated by means of flooding or surface sprinkling, since both methods cause the soil to pack around the tubers and prevent the ground from receiving sufficient water for the need of the plants. All water applied to the potato crop should be run in small streams through deep furrows made between the rows of potatoes. Fig. 9 The Proper Method of Irrigation for Potatoes. Cultivation-Cultivation should be given after each irrigation until the plants are so large as to be injured by the horse or cultivator. Cultivation is just as important as irrigation for success in potato culture, since it thoroughly aerates the soil, keeps down the weeds, helps to retain moisture in the soil and maintains a good deep furrow for irrigation. The soil should be kept in a moist condition until the potatoes are fully grown. In most of the potato districts of Nevada, irrigation will generally cease from August 15 to 31, varying with the season and time of planting. Practically all cultivation on the home potato patches will be given with a hoe. Even though weeds are not present to any great extent, cultivation with the hoe is still very important in order to keep the soil in a loose mellow condition around the tubers. The most important reminder for the potato-grower is to eradicate all the weeds while still small. If weeds are allowed to grow for several weeks, they are not only removed by the hoe with considerable difficulty, but they also drain the soil of moisture and plant-food which should be utilized by the potato plants for a maximum production. Radishes Radishes are in a class by themselves as the quickest and most easily grown of garden crops. They do well in a rich, light, sandy loam soil, but require a good supply of moisture to make a select round radish. |