CHAPTER VIII 



CULTIVATION 



THE objects sought in cultivating the potato 

 are : First, keeping the soil in the seed bed 

 loose and retaining moisture for the crop, 

 and, second, keeping down the growth of weeds, 

 which, if allowed to grow, not only rob the potato 

 plant of moisture but also of available fertility. 



Moisture is taken from the ground into the air 

 by capillary action. By cultivation the surface 

 of the soil is broken and the evaporation checked. 



Disease germs find it difiicult to live and de- 

 velop in soil that is exposed to the sun and air, 

 providing there is thorough aeration and conse- 

 quently plenty of oxygen. 



It is not possible to farm by definite rules. 

 Conditions change daily, sometimes hourly, so 

 that a farmer must know what result he desires 

 to obtain and use judgment in the time and fre- 

 quency of such operations as cultivation and ir- 

 rigation, and be governed by circumstances. 



In an irrigation district, if ground is dry before 

 planting, it should be irrigated well, so as to make 

 the soil and subsoil a reservoir of moisture to be 

 drawn on by the starting and growing plant. Some 

 growers maintain that potatoes should not be 

 watered after this "before planting" irrigation until 

 the tubers are well set; that the moisture must be 

 conserved by cultivation. Conditions may arise, 

 however, such as a long dry spell with winds that 



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