ROOTS, TUBERS/ BtrLl^^ 101 



Potatoes are usually planted' iri driUs'lttoei if (56t; OE,lnore 

 apart and the seed-pieces dropped about fifteen to twenty 

 inches apart in the row. They may also be planted in hills 

 three feet or more apart, dropping two or three pieces in a 

 hill. The seed-pieces should be covered about four inches 

 deep, or planted about two inches deep in a slight furrow 

 and filled in by cultivation after the plants come up. 



Cultivation can begin as soon as necessary. Even if the 

 plants are not up, the rows are easily followed, and if a slight 

 covering of soil is thrown over the row no harm is done, but 

 rather good, for the plants will come through it and the row 

 will have fewer weeds. The purpose of cultivation is, as in 

 other cultivated crops, to keep down weeds and preserve the 

 moisture. Level cultivation should be given and it may 

 continue until the plants come in blossom, or so many tops 

 cover the row that they are injured by the horse and cul- 

 tivator. 



Early potatoes are usually dug as soon as possible and put 

 on the market. Late potatoes are allowed to mature fully 

 before digging. They are then marketed for winter use or 

 stored in cellars to be sold out during the winter or early the 

 next spring. Cellars should be kept just a little above the 

 freezing' point. If too warm the potatoes produce sprouts 

 and their quality for food is thereby injured. Small patches 

 are usually dug by hand, but in large fields potato-diggers 

 drawn by horses are used. Care should be taken not to dig 

 potatoes when the ground is too wet, for the soil will stick to 

 the tubers and spoil their appearance. An ordinary crop is 

 100 bushels per acre, but professional growers expect from 

 250 to 300 bushels per acre. Yields as high as 500 to 1,000 

 bushels per acre have been reported. 



