SOME PRACTICAL EXPERIMENTS 225 



She called it "Three Acres and Starving" ; I called it "Three 

 Acres and Stupidity." She didn't eat the hay, and the Edi- 

 tor wouldn't publish my reply. 



Everybody raises hay and potatoes ; so don't you raise any 

 unless for your own use. 



Potatoes are a laborious crop, requiring constant care, 

 manuring, cutting the seed eyes (on which there is much 

 uncertain lore), hilling up or down according to drainage 

 and rainfall, spraying with Pyrox or dusting with Paris green, 

 and, neither least nor last, bug hunting. 



The seed is expensive, but for your own use you may 

 plant from whatever seed, otherwise wasted, may grow on 

 the potato vine, on the tops of the plants. The crop will be 

 small potatoes and all kinds of varieties, which won't sell 

 in the market but which make each dinner a surprise party. 

 You may strike a new and improved strain, though there are 

 over a thousand varieties of potato listed already. New 

 creations of merit bring good returns, and 'tis the enter- 

 prising experimenter that reaps the honor and the harvest, 

 and he is worthy of his reward. 



To select the most productive plants and breed again 

 from these is, however, a more promising profit plan. Even 

 then don't plant the tubers unless you will take the pains to 

 soak the seed potatoes in scab preventer. If you won't, 

 likely you will raise mostly scab, and the spores thereof will 

 spoil your ground for potatoes for years. 



It costs little in money to make it half a pint of formalin 

 to fifteen gallons of water. Not guessed but measured 

 gallons. Then soak for an hour and a half by the Ingersoll. 

 Don't reckon that one little hour or a few will do just as well. 

 With one hour they will be under-done and spotty, with 

 three over-done and weakly. 

 Q 



