POTATO CULTURE. 45 



as much seed put into a hill. It would not be too much, 

 perhaps, or more than is generally used. Say you have, as 

 a result, 12 or 15 tubers in a hill. Will they not crack the 

 ground very much, more? Of course. If it is nearly level 

 they must bulge it up considerably, and you must either hill 

 up decidedly more, or have your tubers injured. If the 

 light gets down into the soil in cracks, and tubers are near 

 these, they will be injured in quality. 



A word more about hilling : Did you ever notice how the 

 tubers naturally grow in the soil V They form on the stems 

 about the plant, and, as a rule, the stem end (so-called) is 

 slightly higher than the other. Practically the tubers lie 

 about the hill in a nearly horizontal position. Now, in such 

 a hill as one can make in narrow rows, and with the tubers 

 forming, from shallow planting, in the raised hill, can you 

 not see that the ends of potatoes of the long varieties would 

 most naturally stick out of the hills on the sides, or nearly 

 so ? With deep planting and slight hilling, can you not see 

 they would just as naturally form in the soil, where the seed 

 ends would not stick out ? With a little study you can see 

 the reason why we do actully raise potatoes less injured by 

 exposure to sun and light, by nearly level drill culture than 

 we used to in hills. Of course, if the hills were far enough 

 apart to furnish plenty of earth to make broad enough hills, 

 the tubers would not protrude any more than in nearly level 

 drill culture ; but this plan would be wasteful of ground, 

 and wasteful of fertility and moisture, from the lack of shade. 



With proper management, on suitable soil, drill culture, 

 deep planting, and very slight hilling, promise the up-to-the- 

 times grower of to-day the best returns it is possible to get, 

 and at the least expense. 



