POTATO CULTURE IN NEVADA

INTRODUCTION

Nevada made a wonderful showing in 1917 by an increase of more than 200 per cent over previous years in the growing of home potato patches and gardens, by utilizing back yards, vacant lots, and fields not previously cultivated. It has been estimated that over three million such gardens were grown last year by this Nation, producing more than three hundred million dollars in food products.

The planting of home potato patches was a new venture for many residents of the cities and towns in Nevada, and a few were unsuccessful with their crops. However, the increased knowledge of handling the crop, together with the Nation-wide success of the garden movement in 1917, gave a great stimulus to the beginner in planning for a potato patch this year with a determination to be successful. On

Fig. 1-Harvesting Potatoes on the Truckee Meadows. A Very
Desirable Market Potato.

account of the still greater demand for food for export in 1918 the people of the Nation are called upon to give more consideration than ever before to the growing of home gardens.

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 a large number of 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 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

Much of the soil in Nevada is heavy clay that is prepared for crops and cultivated with some difficulty; 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. This is at the rate of about two tons per acre:

INCREASE PRODUCTION BY USE OF MANURE

From the fact that considerable labor and expense is involved in the proper handling of a potato crop, the grower should aim to keep the soil in the highest possible state of fertility, by frequently manuring the land. The manure is best applied during the fall and winter months when the land is not growing a crop and preferably on land that is to be plowed before another crop is planted.

Every crop removed from the soil takes away certain materials that are essential in the growth of the plant. Soils will gradually decrease in their producing capacity when crops are grown continuously on the land without adding fertility. From the fact that about 40 per cent of the fertility removed from the soil may be recovered in the manure, one of the best means of maintaining the fertility of the soil is to return the manure to the land.