CERTIFIED FOR SEED

[Music] the world's potato crop exceeds that of any of the cereals by over 1,000 million bushels [Music] annually Canada's production of potatoes is not large but Canada's climate is particularly well suited to the successful growing of seed potatoes in addition to home requirements for seed there are between 1 and two million bushels exported from Canada annually the seed goes to various countries throughout the world with warmer climates where it is more difficult to maintain good seed each spring after careful checking and sorting the potatoes are cut into sets weighing from 1 and 1/2 to 3 oz and containing one to three eyes they are cut so as to be blocky and formed to ensure sufficient food supply so that a good strong root system is established blocky sets are preferable to wedge shaped sets as they will not dry out so quickly on an average about 222 bushels of seed are required per acre good tight potatoes true to variety are selected before planting the cup seed is dipped in a suitable disinfectant to destroy any diseases that might be carried on the surface of the tuber this infection is being more generally practiced than formerly as Growers realize the value of this precaution in order that the cut seed does not wither when when exposed to the air the sets are planted as quickly as possible after cutting this quick planting ensures there shall be no withered sets no uneven growth no misses in the roads the bulk of the planting is done in May modern equipment speeds up the work and gives the crop the best chance at early spring growth using a modern planter fertilizer is dropped at the same time as the sea up to a ton of fertilizer is used per acre good seed good soil and good Farm practices are used in producing more and better potatoes from the West to the east coast of Canada good Sandy LOM as exists in many Canadian regions is very suitable for high yields of good quality well- rotted manure spread over stubble or hay crop Fields adds humus to the soil and increases its fertility 10 to 20 loads per acre is the usual quantity appli common practice in Canada 2 is a 3-year crop rotation a clover crop is plowed in to maintain fertility and build up the humus content of the soil the field is left to absorb fall rains the rough Burrows catching the snow in the winter a good deep mellow seed bed is prepared killing weeds and many disease germs and aerating the soil no amount of after cultivation can make up for lack of proper preparation of the seed bed to improve the fertility of the soil Growers are encouraged to send in samples of soils from time to time for soil analysis in the laboratory the samples are carefully selected by the Growers based on recommendations sent to them by the Department's chemistry division samples of soils sent in by by Growers all over the country are analyzed free of charge in the government soil Laboratories situated at several points across the country this scientific analysis of the soil provides the farmer with a guide as to the proper fertilizers to use for the most economical production of his potato crop to assist and supervise the production of high quality seed potatoes a seed certification service was organized 30 Years Ago by the Dominion Department of Agriculture research Specialists work continuously to improve varieties which are secured by breeding or crossing potatoes for this purpose potatoes are obtained from all parts of the world and they include many wild species from South American countries the original home of the potato the seedlings produced from these crosses are thoroughly tested for resistance to various diseases many thousands of seedlings are discarded to everyone retained for further test to inoculate disease is spread on the leaves or sometimes injected into the plant sometimes this is done by rubbing the leaves together high quality is maintained by cuber indexing for this purpose selected potatoes are received from The Growers and disinfected before indexing to ensure against the spread of any disease that might be on the potatoes each tuber is numbered so that an accurate record can be kept after carefully disinfecting the scoop an eye is removed from each tuber and is numbered the same as the parent tuber from which it is taken each eye is planted in a pot with a corresponding number the seedlings are grown in the green houses during the winter two or three plantings of these eyes may be made during the whole of the winter period when they're large enough they're examined carefully for any signs of disease if healthy the parent tubers are returned to Growers for planting by tuber units in special seed plots to plant tuber unit seed plots the tuber is cut into one and a half o sets which are planted about a foot apart these sets make tuber unit number one a double spaces left and sets from a second tuber are planted to make tuber unit number two another double space is left and the planting is continued in this way until the plot is completed two bushels of seed planted in tuber unit will furnish seed for approximately 1 acre seed potato inspectors visit the Growers twice during the growing season again at Harvest time and again at shipping time all the inspectors have been employed at this work for many years they know the farm people the farm and the crop it will grow first field inspection commences about 6 or 7 weeks after the average planting date for the district fields that have qualified at first inspection are inspected again within the next four weeks this is done to record the Vigor of the crop and freedom from pests of various kinds and principally to determine the percentage of virus diseases which are apparent only in the growing crop all diseased plants are called Rogues so that this system of hunting for Rogues is called roguing the seed acreage in Canada has increased year by year until it present between 30 and 40,000 acres are examined for seed purposes annually all inspections on seed potatoes throughout Canada are made by officials of the plant protection division science service Dominion Department of Agriculture all inspections are done without cost to the grower so that an unbiased report is assured the Rogues are carried from the field and destroyed care is taken not to shake off any of the insects from the diseased plants onto the healthy ones early cultivations are deep gradually becoming shallower as the plants grow when the plants are from 6 to 10 in High spraying commences and is continued every 10 days to 2 weeks throughout the growing season sufficient and proper spraying or dusting with fungicides and insecticides effectively controls blight and insect threats dusting is practiced where it is difficult to obtain water [Music] all over the different areas of Canada by late September or early October the crop is ready for digging it is dug and handled carefully to avoid injury to the potatoes [Music] [Music] a certain amount of soil acts as a buffer for the potatoes and protects them from bruising on the moving parts of a machine the machine is operated slowly to avoid injury to the [Music] potatoes an uninjured potato seldom rocks The Unbroken skin being the best protection care handling prevents crushing or [Music] bruising at this time of the year the weather is often uncertain so that the crop is picked as quickly as possible [Music] freshly dug potatoes are hurried into storage houses to get them under cover as quickly as [Music] possible the potatoes are stored in specially constructed buildings the crop represents the year's labor and investment and is stored carefully to prolong the life of the potatoes and prevent shrinkage and loss of seed value care is taken to have bins which are Frost Proof they're well insulated and well ventilated to ensure ideal storage conditions potatoes are well graded before entering marketing channels they're passed over grading machines to sort them according to size certified seed runs from 3 to 12 oz for large sized seed and from 1 and 1/2 to 3 oz for small sized seat to qualify for seed tags potatoes must reach high standards they're put up for export in either crates bags or barrels as may be specified by the importing countries every effort is made to protect the seed from injury in transit insulated cars are used for Railway shipment in winter with proper heaters during very cold weather final inspection is given at the dark side as a last precaution against a diseased potato being shipped Health certificates are issued at this point as required by the importing countries covering condition of the seed insulated sheds are used at the sea ports when ships are loaded during the cold weather [Music] [Music] the boats have controlled temperature in the hold and special forced ventilation systems [Music] [Music] [Music] the demand for Canadian seed potatoes continues to grow in all markets which have fried this seed this is the best evidence of its true value [Music]