')!
.
HOME AND FARM MAGAZINE SECTION
9
he Life History of the Potato
EToi II hundred years ago, before
i ho whlto men over nenru 01 um
.milt, hlclilv IntclllRCiit Indians
nc.io they cnllcd themselves,) were
HtlvnMng potntos in mo mountain
llCj u of Peru. Theso Indluns nnu
tvclnpcu n system ui whuhk.
d neclcd grent buildings, nnd hud
h..n inniiv other things ot which nny
fee "f pcoplo -100 yenis ago might
jive bet n prouu. iney tnu not. khow
lythlng about guniiowdcr, howevor,
i uiipn tho Snnnlnrds round thorn,
ic lioor Inens woro easily conquered,
,i tiu Snnnlnrds took from them
rpc ounntltles of gold nnd other
ka-"tfl "Ilu inciuumuiiy, uio in
tra of tho potato.
rTlu c potatoes woro evidently n
Erin v. men nan uueii uuvuiuiieu u
o Im.ia by selection from tho wild
m. v.hleh may ho found In tho
koui nmn of Peru, Chilo, Mosleo and
ou' -II C'olorniio to mis nay. in
ho hands ot tho Spaniard, tho potato
ttund Its way to Southern Europe,
bid ' the first American colony in
rlrmnln
I- One of tho moBt Intcrostlng men
tho lived In England uuu yearn ngo
hs Sir Wnltcr Italelgh. llo was
Iwnjs looking ror Bomeuiing now,
iii.i rnnnlderablo money, nnd wns n
rif.n.1 of Queen Elizabeth. At that
me, nil tho lending nations of tho
urth wero Bnlllng lorin to invesugnio
hn new world which Columbus had
llscovcrcd n hundred years before.
Origin of "Irleli" Potnto.
,Slr Walter Italelgh being plnccd
ho wns nlso Balled rortn. no
hoped to find gold, but Instend found
10 pomio anu louutiu iiuiun. ""
iiolnto plant hnd been Introduced Into
uiririnla a short tlmo before, from
torn, nml Sir Wnltcr Hnlelgh toolt It
rnm Vlrclnlu to his estate near Cork,
n Ireland, no tried to got tno ring
tail peoplo to liico tno potato, out
hoy would hnvo nothing to do with
t, fearing, becnuso of Its relntlonshlp
o tho utadiy nignisnnuc, mat. u ua
bohon
Tim irlBh nensnntB. however, recog-
nl?. ,1 Hn value, and during tho largo
nnrt of Hn early history tho plant was
cultivated moro In Ireland thnn In
Knv otlu r country. That frf tho rea
son wo call It tho "Irish" potato,
irht n it Is by rlRlit of origin tno rem-
flnn potato or American potato.
, Durlnir tho sixteenth century nnd
llin rnrlv Hurt of tho BUVCntCClltll, Clio
kiotnto was vcry.llttlo grown outsldo
of lit and. Grndunuy, pcopio iiogan
in r-n Hint it wns noBslliIo to grow n
Inrno amount of food on n Bmall
hcrnro ny using mo nouuo, nnu u
Iho p.irant pcoplo of Ireland, flor-
liinny. Franco nnu uuBsia grew uiv
potatoes moro and more
Appearance of "Hllglit."
nrnwlncs of tho nlnnt mndo in the
knrly dnys Indlcnto thnt It wns very
much the bmiio then nB It Ib now. 'i no
varieties, however, woro much dlffor
r.nt in ifi.in n illHnnnn nnncnrcd
Enu Ing blight nnd rot, which Is now
nmtinn nVf.rvwhorA lltlt tit Hint tlnlO
Mm imtntn nlnnt ns mnlllionlv culti
vated hnd never before been attacked
by ".
-. lor Bovcrnl years, potato crops
fnllnl nil nvnr TCnrnno. Tn Ireland.
the troublo was especially serious,
and tnousanus ot pcopio uivu irum
famine, nnd thousands of othors enmo
in llin PiiIIimI RtntpH tn nvolil tllO scnilt
food mipply. Something had to bo
uonc a variety nnu to oo uccureu
thnt could withstand, to somo extent
at least, this now disease Now va
rieties wero crown from tho seed
fcnlls. Theso now varieties seemed to
'do all right for a tlmo, and then they
ilrli i-lnrlnlnil nnd linrnmn diseased.
IT! nnu- aroma' nit thouch It IB nCCCS-
Bar to atart now varieties about every
.in am ir vahkh Hldnnf lilt frnnil
varieties, however, lmvo lasted for 30
or 10 years.
llurbnnk's I'otnto.
llltln nvnr Ah vrnrn neo. Lllthor
'B.irbnnk, a young man of 23 years,
,. Planted a lot of potato eccds which
liA linil flnfiivAri frnm thfl ROPll bnllS.
It.t.,i. i.ni. tit. Itiiln mwnAt. InmnlAna
Ono ot these seedlings Btood head and
simulacra nbovo tno real, nnu ho
rtll-d It tho Durbnnk. It soon bo-
i nmn hn lonillntr Amnrlpnn ootnto.
'nnd to this day ranks qulto high.
. ,Mr. tarmen, who, u nuiuuvr uj
'yen ago, was editor of tho Rural
JV-r.t Vnrlinr n nrm nnnfir which Is
j-6'Ul published In Now York, became
r iir:' II interested in poiaioca. jiu kui
; hi . ubBcrlbors to send In seed balls.
; I' j lamed tliouaands of thoso scods,
!, n r ! rccurcd two or three seedlings,
v i'H to tills day nro won miowu
o-. r tho cntlro United Stntcs. Tho
ir r r.imnno In Mia Tlnral NOW York-
I t?. Tho Carmen nnd tho Raleigh aro
American variety, wns crossed with
tho Hebron. Tho resultnnt seed ball
was planted, nnd ono of the seedlings
wns tho Early Ohio.
Since tho potato plant passed out
of tho handB of tho South American
Indians, It hns gono through Bomo
wonderful changes. Now varieties
hnvo been continually coming up,
growing old, pnoBlng nwny.
I'nvot'iiblc Conditions.
Tho flnnl word has not yet been
said In potnto varlotles. It may bo
that some of you will plant seed
hnlls, and, like Luther llurbank, se
cure new varieties better thnn nny
we now have.
Tho nntlvo homo of tho polnto
plant Is seml-troplcnl America, nt nn
ultitmln of 1000 to S000 feet. Tho
high nltltudo meaua a long, cool, oven
senson. The wild potnto hns tubers
about a quarter of an Inch In di
ameter, nnd the ehnrnctcr ot tho soil
didn't make much difference with it.
Our cultivated potatoes aro ofton
three to eight Inches In diameter, and
In order to do well, tho soil must bo
fairly loose nnd easily pushed nsldo.
Tho small wild potntoes didn't need
much In the way of wntor. Our largo
cultivated potatoes miiBt hnvo a lnrgo
supply of wnter.
Putting nll-thoBo things together,
It scorns thnt tho situation best
adapted to potatoes is n cool, moist
cllmnto nnd n light, friable, rich soil.
Tho Irrigated mountnln valleys of
Colorado, Idnho nnd Montana supply
theso conditions Biilendldly. Maine.
Wisconsin nnd Minnesota, with their
cool, moist cllmnto, nnd rather sandy
soil, raise Bplendld potatoes. Tor tho
samo reason, England, Scotland, Ire
land nnd Germany grow good potn
toes. Tho boII In these foreign coun
tries is often rather heavy, but they
ninlto it friable by applying large
quantities of manure. Moreover, it
doesn't seem to mako bo much dif
ference If tho soli Is heavy, provided
It is kept moist by light rains.
Kiln-Drying Process
Is Found to Be Rapid
THE Forest Scrvlco has been mak
ing experiments, at Its Madi
son, Wis., laboratory, in kiln-drying
grand fir (ono of tho whlto firs) a
species which Is abundant In Oregon
and Washington. Theso experiments
hnvo resulted In a very rapid and sat
isfactory process of drying tho fir.
First, tho green lumber is heated
clear through to tho boiling point by
nllowlng live steam to csenpo Into the
kiln until n vapor temperature of
225 to 230 degrees P. is reached.
For one-Inch lumber, this should con
tlnuo for nbout four hours, nnd Is
doslgned to prevent surfneo drying
nnd nlso to nld In the evaporation of
somo of tho moisture. In tho wood.
Tho llvo steam Is then turned off,
nnd tho humidity reduced from nbout
100 to 40 per cent. Tho temperature
ot air and circulation should bo main
tained, however. At tho end of IC
hours, tho humidity is still further
reduced to 30 per cent, and tho lum
ber removed at tho end of 30 to 4
hours.
Tho length ot timo for each opera
tion will depend upon locnl condi
tions or circumstances such as
method of piling, kind of lumbor,
Initial amount of moisture and tho
exactness with which tho required
conditions of drying enn bo main
tained. Tho piling is nn lmportunt
fnctor, for tbo lumber must bo so
piled thnt thero is freo circulation oi
air over every part of it. Edged
stacking or piling Is tho best.
Although this method of drying Is
very rapid, tho lumber showed very
llttlo checking, no. discoloration, but
Blight loosening ot tho knots, and
slight case-hardening. In mntcrlal
that Is not to uo rcsnwcu, pronnuiy
this latter difficulty would not ap-
iuin At nil nvnnla. Mm nmniillt. nf
circulation and high humidity nt tho
same time lenus 10 uimiman or pre
vent this effect.
Tho tostH from which this method
wns developed were mndo with n spe
cial huinidlty-rogulntcd kiln. Simi
lar results may bo obtained by using
somewhat the samo procoss by tho
oven or non-draft method now qulto
extensively used In tho North wost. In
fact, any typo of kiln may bo oper
ated In this manner by doting tho
ventilators to prevent draft. It Is
Importnnt thnt tho lumber be hontod
through by menus of n stenm bnth,
nnd that a tempeiaturo of 225 to 230
.Inmiiut l. 1m iniiliilnlncd. It is dif- '
flcult tn control tho humidity In most
ot tho kilns now In use, but ns tho
drying proceeds, tho humidity nuto-
mntlcniiy drops nnu tno riMnniuu
conditions are approximated.
The forest service is co-operating
with CI railroads, mining companies,
polo companion nnd cities In tanking
tests of wooden tics, tlmbors, poles,
piling and paving blockB which havo
been given prcBcrvnnvo treatments.
SffiK X&Vm ffimM
Best
Goodvears Average
That's Why They Dominate Every Road and Street
Snrnn hundred makers now build lircs. Yet
Goodyeor made nbout one-fourth oE oil lircs
used last year.
We sold 1,479,883 nbout ono tire for every
car in use. And for yenr3 these tires have for
outsold nny other tire that's made.
Now our prices nre nbout the same ns others,
due to our matchless output. Our Fortified Tires,
with their costly, exclusive features, were once
the highest-priced.
Today there isn't n reason why every
motorist can not have Goodyear fires. There
ore these reasons why lie should:
These 5 Reasons
OurNo-Rim-Cutfeaturo
our3 nlonc combats rim
cutting in the best way known.
Countless blowouts nre
avoided by our "On-Air cure.
OODpYEAR
Fortified Tires
No-Rim.Cut Tirei "On-Air" Cured
With All-WeatherTreadt or Smooth
Thi3 one exclusive process costs us $450,000
yearly.
We combat loose treads by forming in
each tiro hundreds of largo rubber rivets.
For security ogainst blowing off the rim nnd
lube pinching, each lire base embodies six flat
bands of 126 braided piano wires.
Our All-Weather Tread combats puncture
by being tough nnd double-thick. It combats skid
ding liko no other by its sharp-edged bulldog grip3.
Thosethings.mean sturdy, trouble-saving tires.
Each is found' in Goodyear tires olone. In
theso ways, nt least, Goodyear Fortified Tires
excel oil other makes. Uo
you know ono way in which
others excel Goodyear?
We urge you to prove these
tires. Once do co nnd you'll
never givo them up. Any
dealer will supply you.
THE GOODYEAR TIRE & RUBBER COMPANY, AKRON, OHIO
Mtluri of Coodrr "Tlra-Satcr" Acetuonei. juw vx "- - -
(OI7)
s::
i
ti
r ' c v;ell known.
ilo reacUblow, nn om-iasuioncu
.,. &
mill