736 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE Off. Doc. 



cause dTouth was most probable after so much rain, and these roots 

 upon which the plants were depending were too near the surface to 

 be ot any service when the weather should turn dry and cultivation 

 had ceased on account of the size of the vines. 1 had advocated and 

 })racticed shallow (illage when potato plants became a few inches 

 high, but Uie conditions were so unusual that, as soon as the ground 

 would permit, the long-bladedi hoes were put to use breaking off the 

 roots at the sides of the plants and opening up the soil to the air. 

 It was radical work, and some slight wilting of the vines was ob- 

 servable. But so sure did it seem that a drouth would bring crop 

 failure if deeper rooting were not gotten and loose soil provided, 

 that the work w^as persisted in, and while the yieldi was not very 

 large, the receipts were $118.00 per acre because fields left untouched 

 could not make anv growth when the drouth came. In this season — 

 3902 — the rains did not fail us for the early crop, but the same treat- 

 ment certainly was not a detriment, as the yield in the same field is 

 250 bushels per acre. In the rather compact soil of this land a 

 part of the yield is fairly attributable to the loosening of the soil, 

 given by these hoes, that was needed to overcome the packing effect 

 of rains. But fhis slow and oldi-fashioned way of giving tillage is 

 commended chieflj^ to those who may believe they should not plant 

 any potatoes because they can not buy all the implements of tillage. 



Late Planting. — The details of early planting have been given be- 

 cause such planting is best in most sections of the belt for which this 

 treatise is prepared. But the grower may find it better to get the 

 growth after midsummer rather than before it. If this be the case, 

 then the planting should be late enough to delay the development of 

 tubers until early autumn. Tihe cool nights of fall are even more fav- 

 orable to potatoes than the early season of the year, provided moist- 

 ure is present. If the planting is late, the culture is somewhat differ- 

 ent. There is less" danger of having a packed soil after planting and 

 more danger of drouth. The work of preparing the ground for plant- 

 ing should be done thoroughly. The covering when planted may be 

 deeper, and a close plowing under the plants is less likely to be nec- 

 essary. 



Thinning. — The price of "seconds'" is so much less than that of the 

 first grade that there is constant temptation to use small potatoes 

 for planting. The small tuber is very apt to send up more stalks, 

 giving more setts than are wanted in a hill. Some growers have tried 

 to correct this tendency by clipping off the tip end that has so many 

 eyes, but this has not been done with profit, as a rule. The matter 

 has been the subject of Experiment Station tests, and it is fairly de- 

 finitely settledi that such clipping does not pay. Other growers 

 have tried thinning. Theoretically this should give good results, 

 and there are extensive growers who practice it satisfactorily to 



