732 ANNUAL REPORT OP THE Off. Doc. 



a mulch tliat does much good in a dry period, and the leading object 

 of cultivation in the potato field, after the one deep tillage described, 

 is the creation of this earth blanket. Do not decrease depth of cul- 

 tivation gradually; do it at once. The one cultivation was to over- 

 come the ill-etlects of packing rains on a somewhat clayey soil after 

 planting; later cultivations are merely to keep the surface stirred, 

 and all the soil below such a mulch should be left alone for the use 

 of plant roots. It is their feeding-ground, and they should be left 

 undisturbed in it. 



Kinds of Cultivators. — The implements required in modern tillage 

 of the soil demand a considerable expenditure of money. It is not 

 easy to determine the limit to profitable investment in them. Somt; 

 farmers buy too raan}^, having too little use for some implements to 

 make the investment pay. But I think that a far greater number fail 

 to buy as freely as they would find profitable. It is sure that plant- 

 ing should not be done unless good tillage can be given, and we must" 

 give that tillage as cheaply as possible. Human labor is high-priced 

 labor, and the implement that saves time Is earning in that degree its 

 cost. Some crops may w-ait for cultivation without serious injury to 

 them, but the potato is not one of these. It is a costly crop, requir- 

 ing good soil and expensive seed, and its returns per acre are rela- 

 tively large when a good yield for the season is gotten. There are 

 few crops that repay care any better. Implements for rapid w'ork 

 pay for themselves more quickly in the potato field than they could 

 in fields growing crops of less value per acre. It is my experience 

 that a seeming surplus of horse-power and of tillage implements is 

 dpfiirable. A cultivation at the right time in a bad season may be 

 worth a big sum, and no one should plant an acreage requiring the 

 •steady employment of all teams and cultivators. If he does, some 

 bad weather will bring failure of a part of , his crop. 



For rapid cultivation after planting, and until the plants are sev- 

 eral inches high, the weeder is an excellent tool. In loose soils it 

 does entirely satisfactory work when used in time. The time to kill 

 weeds is before they get above the surface, or at least before they 

 form any roots deeper than the weeder teeth go. The time to break 

 a crust on the surface of a field is before the crust hardens. But 

 there are clay soils that pack and become hard after rains before 

 the ground is dry enough for cultivation. For such land the weeder 

 ie needed to stir the soil in the row, and to level it, after, the ground 

 has been stirred by a heavier implement. It does not do satisfactory 

 work among loose stones, but elsewhere the horse-w'eeder can be 

 used with profit at certain times. 



The two-horse wheel-cultivator is found on most farms. It should 

 have narrow shovels, at least three on a side, and should be so con- 

 structed that they can run deep when desired and can be used for sur- 



