446 THE POTATO 



which they spray to prevent is found, the vines 

 are spread evenly over the surface, plowed under, 

 and three bushels of Itahan rye grass sown to the 

 acre. 



Heretofore he has imported the rye grass seed 

 from France. It is stronger than the English or 

 Irish grown seed and has given the best results, but 

 this year Mr. Wallace is growing his own seed. He 

 uses an immense quantity of seed. It costs $1.50 

 a bushel or $4.50 an acre. The object is to get as 

 large an amount of grass as early as possible, and 

 to get the greatest amount of fibrous roots and 

 turf to plow under later to keep up the humus con- 

 tent and mechanical condition of the soil. Rye 

 grass gives more roots and turf in a shorter season 

 than any other grass they have used. One object 

 of sowing it immediately after the potatoes are 

 harvested is to pick up and hold any or all of the 

 expensive commercial fertilizer that has been used 

 in growing the crop of potatoes. Otherwise it 

 would be leached into the subsoil from the ex- 

 cessive rains. This rye grass is a second crop for 

 the year — following the early potatoes. The 

 grass makes a fairly heavy crop by the end of the 

 growing season. 



Manure is piled up and rotted until it is almost 

 like black putty, then it is hauled out and applied 

 to the rye grass crop at the rate of twenty tons per 

 acre and plowed under about nine inches deep in 

 November or December. It has the winter's 

 snow, rain and freezing to decay this green cover 

 crop, to disintegrate the soil and make splendid 

 conditions for growing potatoes the following 

 spring. 



His land is thoroughly worked in the spring, and 

 furrowed out in long, straight, deep furrows, six 



