No. 4029 — Growing Potatoes
English historical translation of Molokhovets recipe No. 4029 from the 1901 Russian cookbook, retaining original methods and measures.
Choose mature large seed potatoes undamaged by frost. Divide very large tubers into three to six pieces, each retaining two or three eyes, and remove overly long sprouts.
The source estimates eight to ten chetverts seed potatoes per statutory desyatina. Deep, loose, well-worked soil is preferred.
The author discusses farmyard manure, along with historical fertilisers made from decomposed hides, horns and hooves mixed with lime, marl, gypsum or residues from potash and soap works. She gives 200–300 cartloads manure per desyatina.
Place potatoes in furrows about eight vershoks apart, nearer the unploughed edge so horses do not dislodge them while harrowing.
Plant under the plough and lightly harrow. If soil is cloddy, finish harrowing about two weeks later, when weeds have emerged; repeat if necessary after light rain.
Cultivate when shoots are four vershoks high and again three or four weeks later.
For new potatoes in late July or early August, lift large tubers as needed and return the plant with small developing tubers to the same hole, firming the soil around it.
An economical alternative uses only potato eyes, cut out in small pieces and planted four at a time, five or six vershoks apart; the remainder of the tuber is eaten.
Another alternative uses thick peelings bearing eyes in loose prepared furrows, weeding and earthing up emerging shoots.
The author recommends rotating potato land with a break of five to seven years and renewing varieties through seed rather than planting the same stock indefinitely.
A special method propagates by rooted green shoots. When a planted tuber sends up three or four shoots about two vershoks above the ground, leave one or two in place and separate the others with a bit of underground stem.
Plant those rooted shoots about a quarter deeper than they previously grew, at ordinary spacings, and earth up at five vershoks tall, once or as many as three times in dry weather.
The author claims such plants yield three or four times as much and compensate for planting delayed by five or six weeks, maturing in autumn alongside conventionally planted potatoes.
She also recommends autumn planting of newly harvested tubers in fields where rye has been removed, claiming a secure tenfold yield after overwintering.