444 



THE POTATO 



The soil in this section is peculiarly adapted for 

 growing certain varieties of potatoes. It is a 

 very light sandy loam and is naturally well 

 drained. The subsoil is of sand or gravel, and 

 some of the most successful crops are grown where 

 the soil is not more than eight inches deep. 



Mr. Wallace's whole work is potato production. 

 His conditions are such that he has grown potatoes 

 every year for twenty years on the same land, and 

 out of a total of 300 acres, 260 are kept in potatoes. 

 The other forty acres are used for pasture and for 

 growing hay and grain for his horses. 



On the 260 acres of potatoes he uses annually 

 5,000 tons of barnyard manure costing $7,500 

 and eighty tons of commercial fetilizer costing 

 $3,000. He compounds the latter himself. The 

 manure is appUed at the rate of twenty tons per 

 acre. 



Mr. Wallace grows only two varieties of po- 

 tatoes: the Sutton's May Queen and Sutton's 

 Ninety-fold. The former is a capricious variety 

 in its habits and nature of growth. In the soils 

 and weather conditions to which it is adapted it 

 gives maximum yields and endures from year to 

 year. This fact is true of every variety of potato 

 of which I have any knowledge, but it is a phase 

 of the subject that is very little studied by potato 

 growers. One of the strong habits of the May 

 Queen, which grows to perfection in the peculiar 

 conditions at Dumfries, is that it grows very 

 rapidly and strong, and has large leaves and stocks. 

 These are necessarily tender and will not with- 

 stand strong winds, which would whip it, weaken 

 the plant, make it apt to blight, and check the 

 growth of the tops as well as the tubers. This 

 variety is not a favorite on the coast where there 



