Vegetable Growing for Market 139 



The Great Manurial Mistake. In carrying out all these more or 

 less elaborate manurial trials the fundamental error which naturally leads 

 to utterly wrong conclusions, is the assumption that the soil is the only 

 thing to be considered in potato culture. The soil is talked about and 

 written about, and enormous sums of money are lavished upon it, as if 

 it, and it only, contained all the material out of which the crop is to 

 be made. Not a word is said about the air and the light, and their 

 absolute necessity to the crop. Perhaps it is because they cost nothing 

 they receive such scant courtesy. And yet the great bulk of the crop 

 the great weight, after water has been deducted comes from the car- 

 bonic acid gas which is floating about in small quantities with the oxygen 

 and nitrogen of the atmosphere. It is from this gas that all the starch 

 in the potato is obtained, and the starch can only be secured by the 

 healthy action of the leaves when well exposed to sunlight. If growers 

 of crops would only realize this most important fact they would get far 

 finer, cleaner, and healthier crops than they do at present, and at much 

 less cost. It is a most unbusinesslike proceeding to spend from 8 to 

 10 per acre in manures and fungicides that are not really wanted, to 

 get a crop of 5 or 6 tons of potatoes, when from 10 to 25 tons can be 

 obtained at far less cost by well-known cultural methods. How these 

 good results are to be obtained will be shown below when dealing with 

 the distance that should be given between the rows and sets. In the 

 meantime the following advice may be given in regard to the soil. 



1. Dig it deeply, if possible to a depth of 2 ft., and bring the bottom 

 spit to the top at least every third year. In this way the subsoil will 

 become as fertile as the top spit by exposure to the weather, the action 

 of the roots, and the decomposition of well-rotted manure. When the 

 plough is used, the soil should be always subsoiled to a depth of 18 in. 

 if possible. This may seem a dangerous and drastic doctrine to teach, but 

 it will be less costly to carry out than allowing the crops to languish 

 and die for want of moisture at the root in dry summers, or to become 

 water-logged, sodden, and diseased in wet ones. 



2. In wet, heavy, clay soils, deep cultivation is far more necessary than 

 in good loamy ones. It is essential to get rid of the superfluous moisture, 

 and thus, by letting in fresh air, not only does the soil become warmer 

 and better drained, but the soil bacteria become more active. Of course 

 the cost of cultivating a bad heavy soil is great, but it must be borne 

 at first if good results are to be secured. After a few years the cost will 

 be comparatively small, but the crops w r ill continue to improve. 



3. Light or gravelly soils are almost as bad as wet, heavy ones. They 

 eat up larger quantities of stable manure than a heavier soil, and also 

 require more potash and phosphates. Twenty tons of stable manure per 

 acre would not be too much in a light soil, but a similar quantity might 

 prove injurious in a heavy or loamy soil. In light soils it would also 

 be beneficial to give a dressing of kainit 4 to 6 cwt. per acre a week 

 or two before planting potatoes; or about 1 cwt. of muriate of potash 



