PAGE 2D- ; - . - - HERALD AND NEWS, -Kt AMAtH flALLS, -OBEGOH
Built Of Basin's Spud Planting Completed
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MOST OF THE DUST "HAS settled away cni the majority of Klamath Basin potato and '
seed raisers have their lands planted for the early fall production. The almost complet
ed planting operations Indicate that the Basin growers are not extensively over pkmtmg, :
in spite of the excellent prices received th's spring. The average upper Basin produc
tion is about 18,500 acres in White Rose, Netted Gems and Kennebecs. The planting
crews were putting the seed down at a record pace during about three weeks of May
and hit the peak of operations during the week ending May 25. Scenes such as those
pictured were definitely the rule rather than the exception when touring the Basin last
week. The No. 1 picture at upper left shows the Martin Ramsby cutting operation in
full swing at a 30-sack-an-hour pace. Feedinj the cutter are Mrs. Bea Meador and Mrs.
Ar Ghnsley. Making the trim cuts is Mrs. Curtis Godsey. The No, 2 picture ia upper,
right portrays a hand cutting crew hard at wjrk at the same task . . . getting the spuds
sliced up for the planting machines which gobble them up with the appetite of an over- .
worked logger. Planters estimate that the automatic cutting machine with a crew of four
wiH do the same work as a cutting table with a crew of nine. The upper left No. 3 pic
ture is of a Dale West planting crew setting in about four acres per hour on the-Lower
Klamath. The big four-bin picker planter moves along at a fast, clip with the .only inter- '
ruption of the operation being the brief stops for reloading with seed. The operators of .'
the four-row picker, shown in No. 5 to the left, readily attest to the fact that sped '
planting is hardly the line of work for onyonj with an asthmatic condition. Even the dust
masks and goggles weren't enough' to turn bock the finely yowdered surface dirt. Sport
ing the heavy facial dust coats from left to right are Mac McClain, Bill Slater and
Hank Juntti, all of Merrill. Still another type of widely used planter is pictured directly
above. No. 4. Instead of using an already sli:ed spud for the planting, the bins of the
three-man unit are looded with about 700 pojnds of potatoes which are cut and -planted
as the equipment moves down the rows. Tws men sit on the back of the rig, placing
spuds on the four sectional cutters at intervals along the cutting wheels. The men are
kept busy putting on about 40 spuds per ea:h per minute. The operation was pictured
on the Joe Meeker Ranch on the Old Midland Rood, where 55 acres were being put to
seed crop. The two row unit planter was putting down about eight tenths of on acre per
hour. From left to right on the planter are Charley Shulmire, Joe Meeker, and Vent
Shermer. Meeker points out that one big advantage with the unit planter is that it places
the four pieces from a single potato in a row. Consequently, the early growth from a '
bad spud can be sported earlier and can ba more easily removed inasmuch as. the -pieces
are right next to one another in a given row. The No. & picture at lower left pre
sents a close up of one of the cutting wheel; on the two row unit planter. The spud is
cut as it passes over the uppermost position of the wheel and then falls Into a ehute
from which it is planted, All Photos by Kettfer