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Show 4 Home and School League POTATOES IN THE WAR GARDEN. A. B. Kesler, Principal of Uintah School. In October, 1917, a, careful survey of fourteen gardens raising potatoes was made in the southeastern part of Salt Lake "City. Every contributing factor was included in the investigation that would throw any light upon the failure or success suc-cess of the crop. The various soils and their condition were noted with great care. The gardeners were closely questioned ques-tioned on all the facts relating to fertilizers, fer-tilizers, seed, water, culture and the preparation prep-aration of the soil. The land, which was mostly virgin soil, had been under the observation ob-servation of the surveyor for five years and the general facts and conditions were somewhat understood and in hand from the time the gardens were started until the harvest day arrived. A brief consideration of five gardens, represnting everything from absolute failure to the highest state of perfection, perfec-tion, wiil indicate with sufficient clearness clear-ness all that need be pointed out to show the way to success. The first garden i was made on new soil, which was plowed i once, harrowed once and planted the same day all of which occurred about May 15. The soil was a peculiar mixture mix-ture of clay and fine gravel, which baked like a brick. No fertilizer of any sort was used. The potatoes were hilled up and watered a little with the garden hose, partly by sprinkling, partly by letting the hose lie flat at the head of a row, the water running down between the rows. ' A hand cultivator was run through j several times. There were no weeds. I The tops were green and fresh, but the ; stems were thin and weak. About eight ' hills were dug, but only the record of the best three was kept. These three pro-: pro-: duced four ounces, four ounces and thir- teen ounces, respectively, of small pota-i pota-i toes. Not one tuber as big as a hen's egg was found, and the owner admitted that this condition was typical of the entire garden. This was the fourth largest garden examined. The seed and plowing must have cost not far from $25; the city ; furnished free water; the hand labor was ; considerable, an hpur or two at a time ; for days and weeks; the crop was a total failure. The answer to the question of what should have been done was an-1 an-1 swered quite completely in gardens rtum- bered 2 and 4, situated just across the i street. I The conditions in No. 2 were identical with No. 1. respecting soil, seed, water, weather, air. drainage, etc.. with these important additions: The land was dug in the fall, permitting frost to mellow and break down the soil particles; fertilizer mere stable litter was dug in, and when water was applied the land received a gentle, but generous, soaking, followed in three or four days with careful hoeing. The first hill dug- produced sixty-two ounces of beautiful potatoes. It should be added that the relative amount of water and labor in this garden did not equal that of garden No. 1. and the secret would seem to lie in the fertilizer, in the fact that when water was applied it was given abundantly, and the further fact that fall digging permitted all the natural precipitation to enter the soli. There was no runoff water In the spring of the year. Gardens 3 and 4 were but fifty feet ! apart, and the conditions of soil, seed, plowing and planting absolutely alike. The seed came from the same farm; one man did ail the plowing; a crew of men from the city did the watering a violent rushing and drenching with a fire hose. The gardener in No. 3 scratched and tickled the surface with a hand cultivator. culti-vator. He had a few weeds, but only a fair crop hardly worth the digging. It Is a question if the potatoes could have been sold in the open market. The gardener in No. 4, seeing that the land was hardening to a considerable depth, owing to the peculiar condition of the soil and the lack of humus, dug his garden, gar-den, three times over, a full spade deep, 1 pulverizing the clods as he went along. , Besides this, he hoed it also, to keep it mellow, and was rewarded with a fine j cron of large, smooth, clean, sound do- atoes. Garden No. 5 had been under high cultivation for several years. Much stable litter had been dug in each successive fall, and the frost got In Its work every winter. Clods crumbled t dust with a touch, and this is the more surprising when it is known that this land originally origi-nally haked like a brick. This soil was full of friendly bocteria. which multiply with, amazing rapidity under fa vorable conditions of warmth and moisture. They take from the air and store up in the roots of certain plants, like the clovers and beans and peas, the much wanted plant food nitrogen. Humus seems also to break down cert a In chemical coinbi-nations coinbi-nations in the soil, releasing to the plants valuable food elements. Humus elements In .solution are important solvents of rocks. The relations of humus and bacteria bac-teria are closely interdependent and the results of their action highly beneficial to the soil and to growing plants. The seed planted in garden No. r. was the same as that in practically every other garden examined. It was full of disease, dis-ease, though the potatoes were fine look-inc. look-inc. This gardener treated the seed with a standard formula which killed the disease. dis-ease. In rutting seed he re.iected every piece which looked bad and discarded ail tho ends. Planting was a good six inches deep, rows two feet apart and hills one foot apart in the row. Culture was flat not hilled. In June, when the land showed a tendency to bake, he dug between be-tween the rows a good spade deep and watered copiously with a round spray, poaking the land completely. This wa done twice, when the digging became unnecessary un-necessary and Imrractkable, for -the plants had spread and overlapped, the rnws presenting a solid mat of beautiful dark preen foliage. Water was given in large miantity by means of the round s-prinkler once in ten days. Growth never paused, and opinions were freely expressed ex-pressed tha t the crop had run to tops, potatoes exhibited from thif aarrien won 1 a first cash prise, a blue ribbon and a flrst-clasa certificate at a local fair. The judge without hesitation pronounced them the best in the fair, out of sixty or seventy seven-ty samples entered in competition. The yield was at the rate of slightly more than 700 bushels per acre. Within 200 feet of this garden a sixth patch was hardly worth digslnf?. From the examples, it would seem that ; five things must be clone to produce a I i paying crop: (1) Select arable soil and i plow or dig it from six to ten Inches deep, $ pulverizing all lumps or clods. (2) Fer- J tilize it, as much to conserve moisture ji and make homes for friendly bacteria, as a for the plant food it contains, (a) Be- lect good seed and treat it with a. stand- ij rtrd solution of formaldehyde. C4 ) Keep the soil loose and keep down the weeds. (5 Never let the crop pause during the growing season for lack of wafer. Those jj who use the garden hose should provide fi a gentle, spray and keep it going long enough to soak the ground sufficiently to keep the crop growing for a week at 1 least. Cultivate between rows as soon M afttr watering as the land ran be worked. " It should be said that many persons y undertake mce work than they can do properly. It is much better to use less I land and put all the energy, fertilizer 5J and water into a smaller area. The crop f, will be better and the results more satis-factory. satis-factory. !j ii ANNOUNCEMENTS. Ji Rxlcnslort clashes scheduled for the j; week of April 1 to 6 will be postponed $ until the following week on account of $ the spring vacation in the schools. The regular monthly meeting of the j presidents of the Ham and School league will be postponed from Tuesday, April 2, to Tuesday. April ff. Mrs. Bacon, president of the lea-gue, is f back at hr post after an absence of sev- era! weeks. T Pictures for next Saturday -will be Ja.ck 1 Pick ford In the exciting story. "The g 1 Dummy," and "The Son of Democracy," fi j Lincoln picture No. S. Paramount-Em- L press. 10:30, promntlv. The Webster schnol Farent-Teacher as- it sociation will meet at S o'clock Friday h evening. April 5. to hear Dr. W. R. $ Calderwod in a l-ciurs on "Mora! g Hygiene." I g |