198 ARID AGRICULTURE. 



and then put back into alfalfa with grain. Field 

 peas are an excellent crop to rotate with potatoes 

 in dry farming or under irrigation. Plowing 

 under a light crop of peas in Wyoming increased 

 the potato crop thirty-one dollars per acre. Po- 

 tato ground is usually in fine condition for any 

 following crop. 



POTATO Potatoes may be grown without the use of 



MACHINERY special machinery, but if any acreage is raised, 

 it is economy to have the best equipment. There 

 are a number of planters on the market. Some 

 of the different makes are the Robins, Aspen- 

 wall, Superior, Evans and Excelsior. Digging 

 may be done with a potato plow, which has fin- 

 gers behind, which are worked by a -shaker, or 

 with the larger machines, like the Doudon or 

 Brown. The potatoes may be sorted by hand 

 when picked up, or all picked into a basket and 

 run over a wire screen sorter. Where the po- 

 tato beetles are troublesome, it is necessary to 

 have some form of spraying machine to treat 

 with Paris green. 



HARVESTING Potatoes are usually left in the ground some 



SORTING- time after frost has killed the vines in the fall. 



This helps to ripen and dry out the tubers. They 

 should be harvested before the gro-und begins to 

 freeze. Where the potatoes are green, care 

 should be exercised in handling and a sorter 

 should not be used. If they are to go to market 



