350 THE POTATO 



rigation known in the world. All that is neces- 

 sary to work it is to open or close the valve. The 

 farm homes and barns are suppHed with pressure 

 water. 



This system of irrigating is similar to that in 

 the San Luis Valley in Colorado. In Florida, 

 however, the sub-laterals or deep trenches are only 

 forty feet apart, while in Colorado they are about 

 200 feet apart. 



The impervious clay subsoil and the flatness of 

 the land permit this system of filling the land with 

 moisture from the clay floor up to the surface or as 

 near the surface as the farmer desires. The top 

 soil is so loose and porous that the soil spaces fill 

 with water readily. These narrow beds in the 

 Hastings district allow the planting of about ten 

 rows of potatoes, forty-two inches apart to the 

 bed. Then, there is about six feet of land re- 

 quired for the trench in which the irrigating water 

 is held until it "subs" or seeps to the centre of the 

 forty-foot bed. This is a waste of land. 



Northern-grown seed potatoes are used ex- 

 clusively. They come from New York or Maine 

 growers. One successful Florida grower says that 

 partially matured seed from Maine gives the 

 strongest plants and growth with less rot in un- 

 favorable cold and wet seasons. 



The Spaulding No. "4" Rose, a variety that is 

 regarded as a late sort in the North, is the earliest 

 large yielding sort they have ever grown exten- 

 sively at Hastings. Fully 95 per cent, of the plant- 

 ing is of this variety. Last year, however, an 

 acre of *' Polaris" gave the best yield ever grown. 



From ten to twelve bushels of seed are used per 

 acre. From 65 to 90 per cent, of a perfect stand 

 is generally secured, although occasionally a 



