722 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE Off. Doc. 



does not have time or place for exposure of seed to sunlight to get 

 strong buds, and yet in a soil that is not very open he does wrong to 

 place a heavy covering over it that will become close when rain 

 saturates it. 



The natural thing to do is to plant without any delay when the 

 ground permits, to put the seedi into furrows sufficiently deep to per- 

 mit deep rooting, and to cover so slightly that there is a degree of 

 exposure to the light and air. This is easily done with a planter, 

 and) less satisfactorily so by hand. I have learned that when the soil 

 has been prepared for the seed, there is no need of any opening shovel 

 on the planter, the shoe doing perfect work. Neither is there need 

 of any covering disks. When the soil is fine, loose and properly dry 

 for work, it falls back into the furrow made by the shoe after the 

 seed piece has dropped into place. Not much falls back, but not 

 much is wanted. At the usual depth to which the shoe should go, 

 there is loose, moist soil to surround the seedi, and such a covering 

 is far better than the small, dry clods that form at the surface in 

 the sunshine and are dumped upon the seed by covering disks. After 

 five years experience in field practice I can say safely that the method 

 works most perfectly when the soil has been properly fitted, and 

 the outcome is an even stand of strong plants because the eyes start 

 under so slight a covering that they may be said to be budd'ed in the 

 light. 



It is best to attach a small section of a log to the rear of the 

 planter by a wire, making the log drag along in the furrow over the 

 potatoes to perfect the covering. Some seed pieces may have been 

 left uncovered, and some have more soil fallen in upon them than 

 is wanted, and this log — four feet long and eight inches in diamet* r 

 — evens it somewhat. When the planting is finished, the field is in 

 furrows apparently ready for hand-planting, and the seed is under 

 the bottom of these furrows just deep enough to be covered from 

 sight. 



It may be thought that seed in this position would be unusually 

 subject to injury by heavy rains or by drouth, but experience shows 

 that it is otherwise. If a soil becomes saturated, the excess of 

 moisture in the row will be held about the seed pieces for a longer 

 time when a ridge of soil has been piled into the furrow than when 

 it is open so that the air can dry it out. A mass of saturated soil 

 over the potato will do more harm than an open furrow because 

 the water will remain in it longer. I have observed closely in re- 

 spect to this, and apprehend no more damage from excessive rain- 

 fall on potatoes covered very shallow in deep furrows than on po- 

 tatoes planted in the common way, but rather less damage. 



In drouth, this method gives good plants. A fresh-cut seed piece 



