No. 6. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 2*7 



stai-t uew growth much quicker, but will become much more luxuri- 

 ant thiiii if cut too close, in which event, in case of a prolonged 

 drought immediately following, new growth would naturally be 

 very feeble and come along very tardilj^, or perhaps the plants would 

 perish altogether for want of energy. This second crop should be 

 left to grow uninterruptedly, or if absolutely necessary to be pas- 

 tured, to be done cautiously and very sparingly, so as to have it 

 grow as rank and form as much top growth as possible, before 

 the end of the growing season. During the early or late fall 

 this amount of vegetable matter should be supplemented by a heavy 

 coating of manure, thus forming a massy cover which will pro- 

 tect the soil from all danger of losing fertility during an open and 

 severe winter. Such a covering will also largely contribute towards 

 still further improving the physical condition of the soil; thus, in- 

 stead of diminishing, will increase its fertility, not only from this 

 source, but through the plant food contained in the manure as 

 well, and when finally turned under, will, in connection with the 

 myriads of strong and fibrous clover roots already in the soil, 

 produce such a vast amount of humus-forming material that the 

 potato crop follo^ving, with proper treatment, can not help but 

 thrive and yield to the highest degree. I have always found it ad- 

 vantageous to plow such sod as early in spring as the proper con- 

 dition of the soil would permit. This will prevent the stores of 

 soil moisture, which are always present in early spring, from be- 

 coming dissipated by evaporation, thus being retained for the future 

 use of the growing plants. Then, again, turning sod and burying 

 vegetable matter when it is still in a dormant condition, causes 

 it to break up, decompose and become available as plant food 

 much more rapidly than if left to green and toughen before being 

 buried, which is another great advantage when a quick-maturing 

 crop is at stake. Potatoes, being deep-rooted plants, and the tubers 

 having to form and develop within the soil itself, special care should 

 be exercised to have the plow run as deep as possible without bring- 

 ing up too much of the sub-soil, and have it cut as narrow a furrow 

 slice as it is capable or inverting properly. 



This will break up and disintegrate the furrow slice to the great- 

 est possible degree. The jointer is a valuable adjunct, and should 

 be brought into service by adjusting it so as to run deep enough to 

 completely bury all trash and vegetable matter and still further 

 improve upon the disintegration of the furrow slice. This will 

 admit of proper surface tillage without disturbing the sod, or being 

 hindered by the buried surface matter, and will require much less 

 work to secure a perfect seed bed. As soon as the plowed land 

 is sufficieutly siu'face-dried to prevent it from packing, the roller 

 should be run over it to level it dow^n, thus closing up crevices 

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