Potato Culture. 153 



The record of planting for 1895 is as follows : 



May 3, planted plats 21 and 22 to Rural New Yorker No. 2. 

 May 4, planted plats 23 and 24 to Orphan potatoes. 

 May 4, planted plats 25 and 26 to Rural New Yorker No. 2. 

 May 4, planted plats 27 and 28 to American Wonder potatoes. 



The potatoes used for seed were large marketable ones and 

 were cut to one strong eye to the piece and planted in rows 3^ 

 feet apart with the pieces 14 inches apart in the row. They were 

 covered with a hoe to the depth of about four inches. The first 

 cultivation was on May 10 with a Breed's weeder. It may 

 be said that on this gravelly, loose soil, such an implement did 

 good work, while on soils containing a large percentage of clay its 

 work was not as satisfactory with us. 



The second cultivation was given on May 17, when the spike- 

 tooth harrow was used on all the plats. The importance of this 

 early tillage before the potatoes are up can hardly be too highly 

 estimated. The spring rains form a crust on the surface which 

 needs to be broken up, innumerable small weeds which are just 

 showing themselves through the soil are killed, a surface earth 

 mulch is established which serves to prevent the loss of moisture 

 by evaporation, and in many ways this harrowing of the ground 

 before the potatoes show themselves is most beneficial to the suc- 

 cess of the crop. Again on May 23, May 29 and June 6, all 

 potato plats were cultivated with a spring-tooth cultivator. It 

 will be noticed that up to this time the plats have been treated 

 alike and already given as many cultivations as the potato crop 

 ordinarily receives. From this time the tillage of the various plats, 

 for comparison, varied in frequency. The complete record of 

 the cultivation given is as follows : 



May 3 and 4, all plats planted. 



May 10, all plats cultivated with Breed's weeder. 



May 17, all plats harrowed with spike-tooth harrow. 



May 23, all plats cultivated with spring-tooth cultivator. 



May 29, all plats cultivated with spring-tooth cultivator. 



June 6, all plats cultivated with spring- tooth cultivator. 



June 17, plats 21, 23, 25 and 27 cultivated. 



June 24, all plats cultivated. 



July 2, plats 21, 23, 25 and 27 cultivated. 



