Show UTAH POTATO CROP the utah potato crop is freer from disease this year than for several years past according to t 0 a statement issued by dr geo R hill director of the school of agriculture at the utah agriculture ri I 1 college dr hill who has made an extensive study of potato diseases having carried on various experiments it at the college covering a period of years and having made a potato disease survey of utah colorado and idaho gives it as his opinion that the freeness from disease of the present potato crop can be traced directly to the greater care exercised by farmers in their selection of seed potatoes it is ds a well known fact that in the cultivated potato there is a strong tendency to degenerate or deteriorate where the crop is planted without any attempt to select only the best for seed but this tendency can be overcome under ordinarily favorable conditions by the planting of only seed and by proper handling of the crop the following practical suggestions gest ions as to seed selection are re made by dr hill potatoes for seed should be selected from two distinct points of view from the standpoint of vigor productiveness marketability and from the standpoint of freedom from disease the grower rower should first 0 select a 1 number umber ri of willow ands w or stakes with these in hand he should go over this field carefully before frost selecting those hills which seem most nearly ideal ideal in those hlis hills ho he should place a stake he should select more than enough to plant a see seed d plot for the next year these hills are dug by hand and only those potatoes saved which come out of a productive hill and which are fair sized uniform I 1 and smooth often the promise of a vigorous vine is not borne out and the hill is no good for seed potatoes of course if any diseased potatoes appear in a hill the entire hill should be discarded if the percentage of diseased hills in a field is large no selection should be made from it if the percentage is small it is profitable and advisable to go through the field and dig by hand those hills markedly abnormal these potatoes are good for food but not for seed the care with which this selection is made will determine large larga ly the value of the remaining potatoes S for seed the potatoes thus selected sele acte d are zo to be used for a seed plot for the next year from this seed plot enough potatoes can be secured for the fields the ensuing year by planting a seed plot every year se seed ed for the succeeding year is always provided another method of selecting seed potatoes that is giving satisfactory is results to a number of utah and idaho farmers is as follows after the potato digger has gone along a row and brought the potatoes to the top of the ground the potatoes are left in piles corresponding to the hills formerly there it is then possible to select at a glance those hills that had a high rate of production of cle clean an uniform potatoes these are gathered by hand and used for the seed plot now is the time to decide on land which is to be planted into potatoes next year if possible select a piece that has not been used for potatoes for about five years alfalfa land is best if alfalfa land is selected plow in the stubble in the fall and plow again deeply in the spring if clear land be used one good plow in ing in ill the spring will suffice |