5. Growing a Field of Potatoes for Profit. 



Project Work Plan 



Study Involved 



Select ground 



Plow (or plowing may be delayed till 



spring) 

 Select variety , 



Hill select seed in father's or niegh- 

 bor's field 



Store seed 



Treat seed 



Sprout seed 



Fit ground 



Select fertilizer. 



Cut seed 



Put in 25 tuber units . . . 

 Plant remainder of seed. 



Cultivate 



Spray 



Hill select for next year. Harvest. 

 Weigh up units and save the bet- 

 ter units 



Weigh up yield 



Grade 



Store or sell 



Compute costs and profit 



Summarize project. 



Potato soils. Potato rotations. 



Mechanics and adjustment of plows. Fall vs. spring plowing. 



Depth of plowing. 

 Principal variety groups and their importance. Important varieties 



in your locality. Market demand. 

 Principles of hill selection. The degeneration of varieties. 



Principles of potato storage. Types of storage. 



Scab, rhizoctonia, blackleg. Corrosive sublimate treatment. 



Method of sprouting. Greening seed. 



Tilth and tillage. The fitting program. Tools to be used and their 



effect on the soil. 

 Computing fertilizers. Potato fertilizers. Rate of fertilizing. 



Methods of applying fertilizer. Fertilizer guarantees. 

 Whole vs. cut seed. Method and time of cutting. Size of seed piece. 

 Principles of the tuber unit method. Potato improvement. 

 Planting machinery. Rate, depth and time of planting. Hill vs. 



drill planting. Level or ridged cultivation. 

 Cultivation program. Tools for cultivation. 

 Important potato diseases and insects. Spray materials. Spraying 



machinery. Spraying program. 

 Harvesting machinery. 



Average and maximum yields in other states and other countries. 

 Potato graders. Cost and returns from grading. Grades of potatoes. 

 Prevailing prices of seed stock. Other prices. Losses in storage. 

 Farm accounts. Cost of growing potatoes. 



Demonstrations with Projects in Potato Growing 



6. Compare the dusting methods with spraying to fight potato beetles. Leave a row 

 untreated as a check. 



7. Compare yields from selected and unselected seed; or from small and large pieces 

 with two eyes each; or from lots grow from lots of one-eye, two-eye, and many-eye pieces. 



8. Compare results from different kinds and amounts of fertilizers. 



9. Compare results with different methods of tillage, as extreme ridging with rather 

 level culture. 



References on Potato Growing 



Montgomery, Productive Farm Crops (LIPPINCOTT). 



Gilbert, The Potato (Macmillan). 



Fraser, The Potato (Orange Judd). 



Classification of Varieties, U. S. D. A. Bulletin, 176. Potato Breeding and Selection, U. S. D. A. 

 Bulletin, 195. Potato Storage and Storage Houses, Farmers' Bulletin, 847. Good Seed Potatoes and 

 How to Produce Them, Farmers' Bulletin, 533. How to Increase the Potato Crop by Spraying, Farmers' 

 Bulletin, 868. Commercial Handling, Grading and Marketing Of Potatoes, Farmers' Bulletin, 753. 



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