358 



STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURiB 



HARVESTING 



Potatoes are harvested after the vines mature, or after they are killed by- 

 frost. The bulk of the crop in this state is harvested during the month of 

 October. 



If possible potatoes should be dug during cool, clear weather and the soil 

 should be comparatively dry. After the potatoes are dug they should be left 

 on the ground for a few hours so that they will dry and their skins toughen. 



Much of the crop in this state is dug with forks; one man can dig about 

 one-eighth to one-half acre a day. On fields that are free from stumps and 

 large stones, the mechanical diggers of the elevator type will shorten the har- 

 vesting period and will reduce much of the laborious work. With a good 

 digging machine a man can dig three to six acres a day. 



Every effort should be made to harvest the crop so that the percentage of 

 mechanically injured potatoes is reduced. One of the most common criti- 

 cisms on the market against Michigan potatoes is the large percentage of 



Fig. 19. A digging machine shortens the harvest period and lessens the laborious work. 



potatoes that are fork punctured, cut, or bruised. Such injuries favor the 

 development of soft and dry rots in storage. 



More attention should be paid to grading in the field. Ill-shaped, cut or 

 fork-punctured potatoes should not be picked up with the good stock. Pota- 

 toes are generally picked up in bushel crates and are hauled to market or to 

 storage cellars. Hauling the potatoes to storage in crates instead of in bulk 

 will lessen much of the mechanically injured stock. 



If potatoes are quite immature when they are dug, it is a good plan to place 

 them in piles of 40 to 50 bushels and cover them with straw to prevent frost 

 injury. After a few days the potatoes will have gone through a curing process 

 and will keep better when placed in storage. 



Fields that have been injured by late bUght should not be dug for a week 

 or more after the vines have died. This delay of harvesting will allow many 

 of the infected tubers to rot in the soil instead of in storage and will lessen 

 the amount of storage rot. 



