POTATO CULTURE. 43X 



The excessive hilling is not only useless, but is highly injurious to 

 the plant ; and, the horse-hoe does not pulverize any of the soil 

 only that which it draws around the hill. The soil should be 

 thoroughly stirred up and mellowed, not only around the hill, but 

 which is equally as important, between the rows. If the soil 

 around the hill only is mellow, and between the rows is hard and 

 impenetrable, the plant is dwarfed ; the roots do not extend out 

 into the surrounding soil, drought affects it. Very good work 

 may be done by thoroughly stirring the soil with a common horse 

 cultivator and then drawing the necessary portion of it ai'ound 

 the hills by the use of the horse-hoe. But would not the work be 

 more quickly and cheaply done by the use of an implement, if 

 such could be found, that will perform both operations at once. 



The pi'actice of thinning the plants to the proper number of 

 stalks to the hill, by pulling out with the hand all superfluous ones, 

 is now practiced by many of the most successful cultivators. It 

 has long been noticed that an excess of seed, as it is termed, has 

 a tendency to increase the preponderance of small potatoes. This 

 tendency is more marked in some varieties than it is in others. It 

 is strikingly perceptible in the Jackson and Orono. Hence farmers 

 who have been raising these varieties, have from year to year, cut 

 the seed smaller and smaller, and have by this practice avoided 

 the evil. But they have done it at the expense of the crop. They 

 have not put this question to nature in the right way. They have 

 asked. Does the amount of seed to the hill affect the size of the 

 product ? \^hile the question should have been put. Does the num- 

 ber of stalks to the hill, other things being equal, affect the size of 

 the product? The answer from nature would have then been 

 decisive and prompt — Yes ! A large number of stalks has a 

 tendency to produce an undue preponderence of small potatoes. 

 Farmers will do well to give this subject careful attention, and see 

 that all unnecessary stalks are thinned out. Four stalks are enough 

 to stand in any hill, and if they are planted thick, three, and even 

 two will give the best results. 



6. Harvesting. 



Early harvesting is being more generally practiced from year to 

 year. Potatoes on wet lands at least, should be harvested the last 

 days of September, and all should be housed before the tenth of 

 October. They should be thoroughly dried, and deposited in a 

 cool, dry, well ventilated cellar. It would seem that so simple an 

 operation as digging potatoes could be mostly performed by horse 



