Rural School Leaflet 989 



mineral plant-food; but fertilizers will not make a good crop if the soil 

 is poor in humus and the plowing and fitting are not well done. 



Seed. — It is very important to have good seed potatoes if one wishes 

 to grow prize-winning tubers. Seed potatoes should be sound, should 

 not have been allowed to sprout in storage, and should be as free from 

 disease germs as it is possible to have them. If their skin shows signs of 

 scabbiness, the seed potatoes had better be treated with formalin solution 

 in order to kill the scab germs before planting. The whole tubers should 

 be soaked for one hour before cutting, in a solution of one pint of formalin 

 to thirty gallons of water. The best seed potatoes are those of moderate 

 size. Small potatoes may come from hills in which all are small, and they 

 will tend to grow small potatoes. Very large or overgrown potatoes 

 are objectionable, because they do not cut well into seed pieces and they 

 are not wanted on the market. In cutting potatoes for seed a tuber 

 should be cut into pieces weighing two ounces each. If the tubers are 

 of the right size, cutting lengthwise into halves, thirds, or quarters should 

 produce pieces of the right size. It is best to have a part of the bud end 

 on each piece. 



Planting. — There are different ways of planting potatoes, all of which are 

 good. They may be dropped by hand into furrows five or six inches deep, 

 and covered by hand or with a horse-drawn cultivator. The most care- 

 ful work may be done in this way. If a few inches of dirt are first drawn 

 over the pieces of potato they will begin growing promptly, and more dirt 

 can be drawn over them as soon as the sprouts appear. Potato-planting 

 machines are made to open the furrow, drop the seed pieces at proper 

 distances, and cover to the full depth desired, in one operation. Some 

 potato-growers prefer to plant potatoes in hills and cultivate in two 

 directions. This enables them to kill the weeds more easily. Each 

 grower should plant in the way that seems to give the best results in his 

 own vicinity. 



Cultivation. — When potato pieces are planted the sprouts and roots 

 are sent out at the same time. When the sprouts appear above ground 

 the roots are not very long. In order to keep the soil rich and mellow 

 near the roots, it is well to cultivate deeply at this time. Later culti- 

 vations should be more shallow and not so near the roots as the plants 

 increase in size. Some growers use a weeder to stir the soil in the potato 

 rows and kill the weeds before they are well started. The weeder and 

 cultivator can be used alternately to good advantage for several weeks. 

 When the new potato tubers begin to sprout in the ground, some growers 

 draw earth up to the potato plants in order to hill them up. If there is 

 danger of wet weather, or if the soil is shallow so that deep planting is 

 not allowable, this practice gives good results. 



