238 Practical Farming 



was so superior to theirs that I took a photograph of two 

 adjoining rows to show it. Then at digging time I piled 

 up and photographed the crop from fifteen hills of each, 

 and the difference in the yield was very apparent, in fact, 

 the potatoes in the crop from the northern seed would 

 have been graded as cuUings in the other lot. 



The experiment proved so much that my northern 

 friends sent no more seed potatoes. 



In eastern North Carohna the early crop 

 How the of Irish potatoes is ready for market early in 



Second Crop t ^^^^ ^^^ f^^ matured. Those in- 

 Potatoes are 

 Grown in the tended for the late crop are let fully mature. 



South They are then dug and cut in two pieces, 



since it has been found that they sprout 

 more readily when cut. But they are simply cut in half 

 and not into the usual pieces for the spring planting. The 

 cut potatoes are then placed in little winrows in furrow 

 and either covered with earth or with a thick layer of pine 

 leaves. There they remain till August, and then, as they 

 show signs of sprouting, they are planted in deep furrows 

 but covered very lightly till the green leaves appear, after 

 which the soil is worked to them gradually till level, and 

 all subsequent cultivation should be perfectly level and 

 shallow in order to retain the moisture needed at that 

 season. The crop grows until frost cuts the tops and is 

 then dug and stored for the winter. This is usually 

 about the first week in December. Planting is done in 

 February in eastern North Carolina and earHer in Florida 

 and the states south of North Carohna. 



The second crop potatoes are, as we have said, placed 

 in heaps and covered with soil. This keeps them looking 



