196 ARID AGRICULTURE. 



of seed. The largest yield of which there is any 

 authentic record in the West was obtained from 

 potatoes planted a distance of eight inches apart 

 in rows two and one-half feet apart, on highly 

 fertilized and cultivated ground. 



CULTIVATION Potatoes should receive deep and thorough 

 cultivation. When the plants are four or five 

 inches high, cultivate deep and near the rows. 

 This should be done each week or ten days, run- 

 ning the cultivator shovels farther from the 

 plants as they grow larger, and throwing the soil 

 toward the rows. The ground should be kept 

 well stirred to the depth of the plowing between 

 the rows until time for irrigation. Each irriga- 

 tion should be followed by shallow cultivation to 

 break up the crust until the vines get so large 

 they interfere. 



IRRIGATION- Potatoes should not be irrigated until after 



the young tubers are set on the vines, though 

 wjiere the season is so dry they burn, it may be 

 necessary to irrigate at any time. The tubers 

 usually set a week or ten days before the plants 

 begin to bloom. Deep ditches should be made, 

 with a double plow, between the rows, and the 

 first watering should be very light. Eun the 

 water in the alternate rows and in a week or ten 

 days run a good head quickly through the rows 

 which were not irrigated before. This should 

 be followed in from a week to twelve days with a 



