234 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. 



that will be needed in others, so no rule can be laid down as to 

 the number of times they should be plowed. I like the bar- 

 plow in the potatoes when they are small, as it turns the earth 

 away from them, and in working it back we get it thoroughly 

 pulverized. At the later plowings we make up a broad, flat 

 hill. After the vines fall and horse cultivation ends, if weeds 

 start we take them out with hoes, for I do not like to dig pota- 

 toes among the weeds. There is a popular notion that it will 

 not do to disturb the vines after they blossom, and that weeds 

 do not injure the crop at this stage, but I believe both are 

 wrong, for I am sure that, with moderate care, the vines will 

 not be injured, and I know that often the crop is cut short 

 from one-fourth to one-half, and the labor of digging greatly 

 increased, by the weeds, and, in addition, the land filled 

 with seed. 



The Colorado beetle has ceased to be a terror to the potato 

 grower, and I have found the best remedy to be a thrifty plant. 

 I have not used Paris green or hand-picking for ten years, ex- 

 cept in 1880, when a severe drought checked the growth of the 

 vines so that the beetles were getting the start of them. When 

 I do use Paris green, I prefer to use it in water rather than to 

 dust in on the vines. I use a whisk-broom to sprinkle them, 

 and find about two pounds to the acre is sufficient. I recom- 

 mend, however, that instead of using Paris green, you try culti- 

 vating twice a week, and attach to the end of the singletree a 

 light brush, so arranged that it will brush the young beetles off 

 ahead of the cultivator. Probably many of them will crawl 

 back onto the vines, but some of the smaller ones will be killed, 

 and the extra workings will give the plants extra vigor. If the 

 bugs were bad, I would work still oftener. 



HARVESTING, STORING, AND MARKETING. Notwithstanding there 

 are many styles of potato diggers on the market, I have never 

 seen one that I should be willing to use; or, at least, that I 

 would recommend to the farmer who only grows an acre or so 

 of potatoes. The trouble with most of them is that they leave 

 more potatoes in the ground than will pay for digging by hand, 

 unless the price is low. With clean land and a good yield, the 



