POTATO 267 



(2) Four year: corn, small grain, clover, potatoes. 



With the four-year rotation a good crop of corn is pro- 

 duced. A two-year rotation consisting of clover and 

 potatoes can be followed, where the sod is wanted in one 

 year, by sowing the clover alone on a well prepared seed 

 bed early in the spring. 



Size of Sets (commonly called "seed"). The tubers for 

 planting should be sound and not sprouted. Sprouting 

 weakens their vitality. The potato is a thickened under- 

 ground stem. The eyes contain several buds, which, like 

 the buds on a willow cutting, should be dormant when set 

 out. Every piece of tuber cut for planting should possess 

 at least one strong eye and be large enough to nourish the 

 new growth until well established. The size of the piece is 

 more important than the number of eyes. If the variety 

 has few eyes, then pieces of proper size will be obtained by 

 cutting to one eye. With the average variety pieces of 

 good size will have two and frequently three eyes. Per- 

 haps fifteen bushels per acre will generally give the most 

 profitable returns with the best cultivation and soil. The 

 usual amount used is from eight to eleven bushels per acre. 



Cutting the seed by hand is the best plan where potatoes 

 are grown on a small scale. Some machine cutters leave a 

 large number of pieces without eyes, especially with those 

 varieties having few eyes. Much of this difficulty can be 

 avoided by using only hand-feed cutters. 



Selection of Seed Potatoes. Varieties of potatoes sel- 

 dom retain their pristine vigor and productiveness many 

 years, except in very favorable locations. On some land, 

 even with the best of care, they are apt to "run out." As a 

 rule, it is a good plan to get seed stock occasionally from 

 locations favorable to the best development of the potato, 

 or at least to change for seed potatoes grown in a different 



