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September 06, 2007 - The heyday of the L.I. potato12A • The Suffolk Times • September 6, 2007 The heydayof the L.I. potato As kids, the only association we had with the po- tato was the "mickies" we'd cook in our campfire. From perfectly good potatoes we'd tossed into the fire, they'd come out burned black. They looked more like a charcoal briquette than a potato, but that didn't matter to us; we'd break them open and eat them steaming hot. Of course, our hands and mouth would get smeared with black, but even with all the mess and burnt tongue, we thought they were great. In those early days we walked FOCUS to school, passing fields of pota- toes. Depending on the season, O N we would see the small white blossoms on the maturing plants, NATURE and as time went by the plants b PdUI would dry as the potatoes devel- y oped underground. On our way Stoutenburgh home from school, we would see lines of bagged potatoes wait- ing to be picked up by the trucks. It was the heyday of the "Long Island Potato." I knew little then about the planting, growing or even the digging of potatoes Gradually the pieces of the potato puzzle fell into place, but only after I had grown up, gone into the service, back to college and found myself working for a fertilizer /machinery company called Long Is- land Produce & Fertilizer Company, headquartered in Riverhead. Under the G.I. Bill I took a two-year college pro- gram in ag engineering at Farmingdale and special- ized in the new and profitable industry of irrigation. With my job at LIPCO I got to know many of the farmers as I traveled over the island selling and in- stalling irrigation systems, power units and pump units, etc. And during the slow time in the winter I got to learn the ins and outs of farming. I'd stop in at one of the barns where the farmers were working or go into the kitchen and talk to the boss about this or thaL One of the topics was how potatoes grew. I learned that potatoes grow from a seed potato that is cut into pieces, with one or more eyes in each piece. When planted, each eye produces a plant from which the potatoes grow. Many seed potatoes had to be cut and stored, where they would wait planting. In those days, the entire seed - cutting process was done during the winter by hand. The farmers tried to grow their own seed here on the island but were never successful, so seed potatoes were shipped in railroad cars, mostly from Maine and Prince Edward Island. There was a lot of hard work on the farm for the four or five months between seed cutting and har- vesting besides the continual job of overhauling farm machinery, including trucks, tractors, plows, planters, potato diggers and much more. When to start planting was always crucial. The farmer had no control over the weather. If the farmer planted too early, the new tender shoots of the potato might freeze and his entire crop could be ruined. If he planted too late, his whole crop would be late, and when he went to sell the price would have dropped. I was finding there was a lot to learn about the farmer and his crops. After the seed potatoes were planted and the plants grew and blossomed, at the end of the sum- mer they'd die back and the potatoes were ready to k i Suffolk Times plld.o by Paul St." I", w I Top: This rare photo tells the story of misery and despair. In the early days of the potato industry, crews of pickers were brought in to work in the dust and dirt for pennies a basket. Right: This photo was taken in 1970. Today real estate has moved in and, true to the sign, an Industrial park has started to develop. There's nothing wrong with such a park, but it does show the slow eating away of our farmlands. Left: Look closely at the potato blossom and you'll be surprised — k, too, has Its own beauty. be dug. They were picked by hand in the early days and put in baskets (today the baskets are collectors' items). From the baskets they'd be dumped into bur- lap bags, then all lined up in the fields to be picked up and physically loaded onto trucks. The trucks took them to the farmer's barn or to grading stations where they were sorted for size and quality and sold. Besides the local farm workers, there were crews of potato pickers who worked on the farms. They would be picked up early in the morning, brought to the location that was ready for digging and work all day. At the end of the day the workers were taken back to camp, where the whole procedure would start all over again the next day. As the acreage in potatoes grew, so did the machin- ery that was created to handle the crops. A perfect example of this was the seed potato cutter. With one of these machines, all the farmer had to do was place the seed potatoes in cups on a moving chain that ran through cutting blades that would cut the potato into pieces. One of these ingenious potato seed cutters was invented and manufactured right here on the North Fork, in Mattituck. The man who was credited with this invention was K.G. Brown. While we're reminiscing about how the potato farms grew, let us not forget the potato digger that grew with it. After the single -row digger there were soon two-row diggers, and finally even diggers that could dig four rows at once.This was a giant step that changed the way potatoes were harvested. Soon much of the grading was done right on the moving combine. The newly dug potatoes would travel across digger chains where the dirt, stones and weeds were removed, then the newly dug potatoes would follow the moving belt directly into a bulk body truck that traveled alongside the potato digger. Once the truck was filled, it would go to the farmer's barn, where the potatoes would be stored for later processing or bagged and shipped to market. Today potatoes are still grown on Long Island but their future looks a bit shaky. Wineries and hous- ing are growing in our area while potato farms are becoming fewer and fewer each year. Much of the farmland you now see from Riverhead to Orient may not always be in farming, for much of it is owned by speculators. The potato combine is a far cry from when potatoes were picked by hand. Here we see a fa►mworker on a potato digger removing weeds, stones and dirt as the potatoes move along a conveyer heft into the moving truck. Then they are brought to the farmer's storage barn for later bagging and shipping. The Suffolk Times •September 6, 2oo7 heYda, 'of the .. -Do a o As kids, the only association we had with the po- tato was the "mickies" we'd cook in our campfire. From perfectly good potatoes we'd tossed into the fire, they'd come out burned black. They looked more like a charcoal briquette than a potato, but that didn't /� „lulll i� P matter to us; we'd break them open and eat them steaming hot. Of course, our hands and mouth would �u ra �jl get smeared with black, but even with all the mess and burnt tongue, we thought they were great. In those early days we walked FOCUS to school, passing fields of pota toes. Depending on the season, ON we would see the small white blossoms on the maturing plants, NATURE and as time went by the plants would dry as the potatoes devel- by Paul oped underground. On our way ' ° =• Stoutenbur h g home from school, we would see ” lines of bagged potatoes wait ing to be picked up by the trucks. It was the heyday of the "Long Island Potato." I knew little then about the planting, growing or even the digging of Potatoes. IN '' r ✓ k I DP: This rare photo tells the story of misery and despair. In the early days of the potato industry, crews o ickers were brought in to work in the dust and dirt for pennies a basket Uradually the pieces of the potato puzzle fell ini place, but only after I had grown up, gone into the service, back to college and found myself working for a fertilizer /machinery company called Long Is- land Produce & Fertilizer Company, headquartere in Riverhead. Under the G.I. Bill I took a two -year college pro- gram in ag engineering at Farmingdale and special - ized in the new and profitable industry of irrigation. With my job at LIPCO I got to know many of the farmers as I traveled over the island selling and in- stalling irrigation systems, power units and pump units, etc. And during the slow time in the winter I gc to learn the ins and outs of farming. I'd stop in at one of the barns where the farmers were working or go into the kitchen and talk to the boss about this or that. One of the topics was how potatoes grew. I learned that potatoes grow from a seed potato that is cut into pieces, with one or more eyes in each piece. When planted, each eye produces a plant from which the potatoes grow. Many seed potatoes had to be cut and stored, where they would process was done during the winter by hand. The farmers tried to grow their own seed here on the island but were never successful, so seed potatoes were shipped in railroad cars, mostly from Maine and Prince Edward Island. There -was a lot of hard work on the farm for the four or five months between seed cutting and har- vesting besides the continual job of overhauling farm machinery, including trucks, tractors, plows, planters, potato diggers and much more. When to start planting was always crucial. The farmer had no control over the weather. If the farmer planted too early, the new tender shoots of the potato might freeze and his entire crop could be ruined. If he planted too late, his whole crop would be late, and when he went to sell the price would have dropped. I was finding there was a lot to learn about the farmer and his crops. After the seed potatoes were planted and the plants grew and blossomed, at the end of the sum- mer they'd die back and the Potatoes were ready to be dug. They were picxea oy nanu III LnI� � - =•y 4w,- and put in baskets (today the baskets are collectors' items). From the baskets they'd be dumped into bur- lap bags, then all lined up in the fields to be picked up and physically loaded onto trucks. The trucks took them to the farmer's barn or to grading stations where they were sorted for size and quality and sold. Besides the local farm workers, there were crews of potato pickers who worked on the farms. They would be picked up early in the morning, brought to the location that was ready for digging and work all day. At the end of the day the workers were taken back to camp, where the whole procedure would start all over again the next day. As the acreage in potatoes grew, so did the machin ery that was created to handle the crops. A perfect example of this was the seed potato cutter. With one of these machines, all the farmer had to do was place the seed potatoes in cups on a moving chain that ran through cutting blades that would cut the potato into pieces. One of these ingenious potato seed cutters was invented and manufactured right here on the North Fork, in Mattituck. The man who was credited with this invention was K.G. Brown. _ While we're reminiscing about how the potato farms grew, let us not forget the potato digger that grew with it. After the single -row digger there were soon two -row diggers, and finally even diggers that could dig four rows at once. This was a giant step that changed the way potatoes were harvested. Soon much of the grading was done right on the moving combine. The newly dug potatoes would travel across digger chains where the dirt, stones and weeds were removed, then the newly dug potatoes would follow the moving belt directly into a bulk body truck that traveled alongside the potato digger. Once the truck was filled, it would go to the farmer's barn, where the potatoes would be stored for later processing or bagged and shipped to market. Today potatoes are still grown on Long Island but their future looks a bit shaky Wineries and hous- ing are growing in our area while potato farms are becoming fewer and fewer each year. Much of the farmland you now see from Riverhead to Orient may not always be in farming, for much of it is owned by speculators. lxi rrMll 4�' W The pofafo combine is a far cry from when potatoes were picked by hand. Here we see a farmworker on a potato digger removing weeds, stones and dirt as the potatoes move along a conveyer belt into the moving truck. Then they are brought to the farmer's storage barn for later bagging and shipping. k w INDUSTR1 A1 Pl r/l qr�' V Mpd 4 �IlFni rill 'YL';; rr , INr r ; 4 l�l J '4 ry / p ,ri l'' l r lI' Irx r errs rr r rrN Suffolk Times photos by Paul Stoutenburgh Left: Look closely at the potato blossom and you'll be surprised — it, too, has its own beauty. Right: This photo was taken in 1970. Today real estate has moved in and, true to the sign, an industrial park has started to develop. There's nothing wrong with such a park, but it does show the slow eating away of our farmlands. be dug. They were picxea oy nanu III LnI� � - =•y 4w,- and put in baskets (today the baskets are collectors' items). From the baskets they'd be dumped into bur- lap bags, then all lined up in the fields to be picked up and physically loaded onto trucks. The trucks took them to the farmer's barn or to grading stations where they were sorted for size and quality and sold. Besides the local farm workers, there were crews of potato pickers who worked on the farms. They would be picked up early in the morning, brought to the location that was ready for digging and work all day. At the end of the day the workers were taken back to camp, where the whole procedure would start all over again the next day. As the acreage in potatoes grew, so did the machin ery that was created to handle the crops. A perfect example of this was the seed potato cutter. With one of these machines, all the farmer had to do was place the seed potatoes in cups on a moving chain that ran through cutting blades that would cut the potato into pieces. One of these ingenious potato seed cutters was invented and manufactured right here on the North Fork, in Mattituck. The man who was credited with this invention was K.G. Brown. _ While we're reminiscing about how the potato farms grew, let us not forget the potato digger that grew with it. After the single -row digger there were soon two -row diggers, and finally even diggers that could dig four rows at once. This was a giant step that changed the way potatoes were harvested. Soon much of the grading was done right on the moving combine. The newly dug potatoes would travel across digger chains where the dirt, stones and weeds were removed, then the newly dug potatoes would follow the moving belt directly into a bulk body truck that traveled alongside the potato digger. Once the truck was filled, it would go to the farmer's barn, where the potatoes would be stored for later processing or bagged and shipped to market. Today potatoes are still grown on Long Island but their future looks a bit shaky Wineries and hous- ing are growing in our area while potato farms are becoming fewer and fewer each year. Much of the farmland you now see from Riverhead to Orient may not always be in farming, for much of it is owned by speculators. lxi rrMll 4�' W The pofafo combine is a far cry from when potatoes were picked by hand. Here we see a farmworker on a potato digger removing weeds, stones and dirt as the potatoes move along a conveyer belt into the moving truck. Then they are brought to the farmer's storage barn for later bagging and shipping.