468 THE POTATO 



soil is so loose and light that it does not hold its 

 form in ridging so well, so they plant wide to give 

 more soil for better ridging. Up to the present 

 time this soil has required no nitrate of soda or 

 nitrogen, but requires phosphates, lime, and potash. 



Whole seed with green sprouts one half inch 

 long are placed in the furrow by women and chil- 

 dren. They use light, one-horse cultivators, and 

 practise what we would call shallow cultivation. 

 They depend largely on hand hoeing and hand 

 weeding. It seems to be the only system in the 

 close rows, and these close rows and close planting 

 are very important factors in the large yields in 

 Europe as compared to our small yields in America, 

 where we plant in rows three to four feet wide with 

 hills fifteen to twenty-four inches apart, producing 

 a few large, rough potatoes in a hill and a small 

 number of bushels to the acre. 



They spray two to five times per season for blight 

 at an expense of $2.50 an acre per spray. Button's 

 Epicure is producing nine tons of salable po- 

 tatoes per acre this 19th day of July (1910) at 

 $15 a ton net. They would get thirteen tons 

 matured thirty days later at $10 a ton. Their 

 method of harvesting would be very primitive and 

 crude to our potato growers with improved ma- 

 chinery in the United States. Boys and girls first 

 pull the tops in two rows and throw the tops on 

 harvested land. Then the potatoes that were 

 pulled out with the tops are picked up from the 

 surface and the balance are plowed out with old- 

 fashioned shovel plows with rod attachments. 

 Then the potatoes that lay on the surface are 

 picked up by women, boys and girls and carried to 

 a point where they are being sacked. The land is 

 then harrowed twice and picked over again, so 



