179 



work, but they injure far less, as they instinctively know 

 where the tubers lie in the ground. The short-handled 

 four-tine fork is the best tool for the purpose of digging, 

 and although flat tines are occasionally used in the 

 place of the ordinary square or round tines, they are 

 not so serviceable, as there is more likelihood of the 

 tubers being struck or cut by them ; nor can they be 

 drawn through the loosened earth so easily ; moreover, 

 except on very hard ground, skilled diggers rarely 

 force the spade into the soil by the aid of the foot, but 

 strike it vertically into the ridge, and then force it to the 

 required depth with the combined efforts of the arms 

 and body. It is usually better to dig slightly across 

 the ridge than immediately behind the plant in the 

 middle of the row. The cost of digging and picking 

 up an acre of potatoes, according to our personal 

 experience, is from eighteen to twenty-eight shillings, 

 making two selections ware, or marketable size, and 

 seed and chats, those which are not large enough for 

 culinary purposes. As a rule, those which will not 

 pass through a mesh one and a-half inches square are 

 considered ware size ; those which pass through a one 

 and a-half inch mesh, but will not go through a one 

 and a-quarter, are looked upon as seed; while the 

 smallest, which fall through the one and a-quarter 

 mesh, are called chats, and are usually used as food for 

 animals about the farm. A crop of an early variety, 

 such as Hyatt's Ashleaf, which does not as a rule crop 

 heavily, may be dug for eighteen shillings an acre, and 

 allow the diggers to earn as much as they would get 



