188 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



bug in this way two rows at a time going at a prettj good gait. We 

 use a ten quart pan with a handle about twenty inches long nailed on one 

 side, and gently strike the potato hill with this pan, causing the bugs 

 to fall into it. At each end we have a can sixteen inches deep, with per- 

 pendicular sides, that we empty the bugs into and pour hot water over 

 them. One advantage in this method is that the bugs cease to do busi- 

 ness as soon as caught. 



DISCUSSION. 



Q: What yield do you get? 



Mr. Cowdrey : My yield this year with the Freemans was 100 bushels 

 per acre of marketable potatoes; with the later varieties, perhaps 200 

 bushels to the acre. 



Q: What time do you plant your potatoes? 



Mr. Cowdrey: I have aimed to plant them early — quite early — espe- 

 cially the early varieties; usually I plant my potatoes about the first of 

 May. 



Q: Do you recommend fall or spring plowing? 



Mr. Cowdrey: That depends; on my soil, fall plowing will not do, 

 early spring plowing will not do. I want to plow as close to the time of 

 planting as I can; that suits my soil. 



Q: What is your soil? 



Mr. Cowdrey: A sandy loam, where I live now; on the farm, it is a 

 clay loam. 



Q: Are there any ridges? 



Mr. Cowdrey: It naturally works up a little bit, in cultivating, but 1 

 don't hill a potato under any circumstances. 



Q: Are you bothered any with sunburned potatoes? 



Mr. Cowdrey: No, sir; I don't think I had a peck this year. 



Q : Do you pay any attention to the time of the moon ? 



Mr. Cowdrey : Yes, I do ; I believe it is the proper time to plant pota- 

 toes in the moon. 



Q: What time of the moon? 



Mr. Cowdrey: Full of the moon. 



Q : What effect can the moon have on the potatoes? 



Mr. Cowdrey: You can see to plant later at night. (Laughter.) No, 

 I will tell you my idea about that moon theory. I plant when I get 

 ready; I never wait for the moon to full, I plant when the ground is in 

 good condition. 



Q: How deep do you plant? 



Mr. Cowdrey: Four or five inches. 



Q: Have you had any experience with the potato planters? 



Mr. Cowdrey: I never had, but I intend to this next spring. 



Q: How small do you cut the seed? 



Mr. Cowdrey: A potato as large as a hen's egg, I cut once in two. 

 I don't reason about it: sometimes I have one eye, sometimes two; if 1 

 have three, I don't care. 



Q: I would like to ask how long you cultivate, without regard to 

 the potato plant. How long do you use your drag or weeder, regardless 

 -of where the plants are setting? 



