2/8 AGRICULTURE OF MAINE. 



do better work. The rows will be three feet apart starting from 

 the outer edge, and in order to make them six inches deep, it 

 will be well to cultivate through them twice. By making them 

 this distance apart it will allow me about forty rowsi of potatoes 

 in the acre. 



I am going to use fifteen bushels of Delaware potatoes and 

 one ton of Sagadahoc fertilizer. I will be very careful in select- 

 ing my seed not to get any affected by disease, or any that are 

 not smooth, because if I should plant potatoes that were rough 

 and knobby I should receive unmarketable potatoes which would 

 be counted at half price. The seed will need to be cut so there 

 will be two eyes on each. After cutting, I will sprinkle a small 

 amount of lime on them to dry the cut surface. I shall put the 

 fertilizer in the furrows by strewing a good sized handful along 

 a short distance in the row and then strewing another on top of 

 it as that will be about the amount to use. After this is done I 

 shall take a brush and drag lig'htly over the top to sprinkle a 

 little soil over the fertilizer, because if I should drop the seed 

 directly on the fertilizer, it would burn them. When planting 

 I shall have a stick nine inches long to measure the distance 

 between each one. The reason I am so particular about this is 

 that if I should drop the seed too far apart, I would receive 

 extremely large potatoes and these would be counted as cull 

 potatoes which are unmarketable. After dropping the seed, I 

 shall go between the furrows with a shovel plow to bury them ; 

 then I shall go over them with a hoe to cover neatly. 



As soon as the plants break ground, I shall strew a small 

 amount of phosphate along the side of the rows and then go 

 through them with a cultivator to mix it with the soil and put 

 it around the stem of the plant. If it is possible, I shall culti- 

 vate them every other day as this benefits them in every way. 

 They will need to be hilled up about two times. 



Beetles are sure to come as soon as the plants break ground. 

 They can be kept off until the plant is large enough so I can 

 use Paris green or arsenate of lead. In picking the bugs off, I 

 shall wear a kid glove and go through the plat at noon hour 

 w^hen the sun is warmest because the bugs are on top of the 

 leaves. The kid will prevent staining the forefinger and thumb. 

 In harvesting, a shovel plow isi a good implement to use. Many 

 of the potatoes will be turned out over the ground and the rest 



