210 THE BOOK OF VEGETABLES 



year the Potatoes are grown, may come from good com- 

 post or very well-rotted manure. If fresh, the manure 

 may cause scab. For safety, the manure is best supplied 

 in the fall, and ploughed in; or it could be heavily fed 

 to the previous crop. Or in farm operations green 

 manure (leguminous crops), ploughed in, will both give 

 humus and help to open up the subsoil. 



Chemical fertilizers may previously be applied at 

 the rate of about fifteen hundred pounds per acre. If 

 the Potatoes are grown on a large scale, a special study 

 of the needs of the soil is advisable. (See Texas Bulle- 

 tin No.' 71). For smaller operations a high-grade ferti- 

 lizer may be used, rich in potash. This should be ap- 

 plied down the rows and well covered or worked into 

 the soil before the Potatoes are planted. 



Over-feeding, either with manure or with chemical 

 fertilizers, is not advisable, as too rank a growth of foli- 

 age invites blight. 



The soil should be in the best of physical condition. 



Sod-land (grass land freshly turned), lightly dressed 

 with well-rotted manure and with about one thousand 

 pounds of fertilizer, is good for potatoes. 



Seed, like land, should be free of scab. It should be 

 of the very finest. Northern-grown seed, especially 

 that from Maine and Vermont, is considered the best. 

 (Seed is here used in the sense of seed-piece. Actual 

 potato-seed is never used except by experimenters for 

 new varieties.) 



