THE POTATO 341 



careful farmer can mix fertilizer constituents as 

 perfectly as the elaborate mixing machinery does 

 in a large fertilizer factory. Home mixing costs 

 about 50 cents per ton, and the saving ranges from 

 $2 to $8 per ton. A better and purer grade of 

 goods is secured with no filler in them, conse- 

 quently no worthless stuff. The fertilizer is ap- 

 plied with an eleven-hoe grain and fertilizer drill, 

 preferably between the first and second cutaway 

 work. Tests have been made with the various 

 fertilizer ingredients separately and in combina- 

 tion in varying quantities. On our farm potash 

 paid the best. Fertilizers used in connection with 

 a good supply of organic matter in the soil gives 

 better results. 



"If wheat lodges, that is an indication of alack 

 of potash. Dwarfish growth signifies lack of ni- 



' trogen, shrunken grain shows lack of phosphoric 

 acid. However, the only sure way to determine 

 such questions is to test out the fertilizer in plats 

 and let the behavior of the plants and results deter- 

 mine which form of plant food will pay best to 

 invest in. Excessive growth of potato vines with 



y few potatoes represents a shortage of potash. 



P "The past spring (1911) the fertilizer was cut 



down to 800 pounds per acre, using the minerals 

 only, lOj per cent, phosphoric acid and 12J per- 

 cent, potash, costing $20 per ton. 



"Good, healthy, vigorous potato seed is one of 

 the most important factors in the growing of the 

 crop; and the simple fact about it is that every 

 farmer can have such first-class seed stock by a 

 little extra study and work; by land digging, for a 

 start, say 500 to 1,000 hills of potatoes, where they 

 are the best in the field, and selecting individual 

 high yielding hills for next year's seed and breed- 



