88 THE POTATO 



Deep and thorough plowing and harrowing, so as 

 to make a perfect seed bed, not only establishes an 

 earth mulch so as to prevent the loss of moisture of 

 the spring r^ins, but it so fines the soil that the 

 plant food contained in it becomes xiccessible to the 

 growing plant. The conservation of moisture by 

 frequent tillage is not understood or practised as 

 it should be. The old notion that potatoes should 

 be hilled and that tillage should cease as soon as the 

 potato is in bloom, is wrong for most situations. 

 Hilling is frequently practised so as to keep the 

 tubers from becoming exposed to the sun; that is 

 not necessary if the soil is properly prepared. 

 On hard, compact soil the potato will, because of 

 less resistance of the soil, push out of the ground. 

 This will not happen in deeply worked land. 



"The proper preparation of a soil for the potato 

 crop is a matter of years and not a single season. 

 A soil, in order to do the best must be in excellent 

 state of tilth and a high state of fertility. Such 

 conditions can only be obtained by careful fore- 

 thought and planning. Frequently soil is not 

 plowed deeply enough. It is very common for 

 people to speak of plowing seven, eight, or even 

 nine inches, but most men would be surprised if 

 they were to apply a rule to see how much short of 

 this depth the plow actually goes below the actual 

 level of the field. Many men who think they are 

 plowing seven or eight inches deep are only plow- 

 ing five inches. If this shallow plowing has been 

 practised it is bad management to suddenly deepen 

 the plowing, as this brings too much of the sub- 

 soil to the surface in a single plowing. 



"Good potato land may be handled in a three or 

 four year rotation — potatoes, grain, grass one or 

 two years, and then potatoes again, in some such 



