102. 1 POTATO CULTURE. 



ions to stir the surface after a shower V why we harrow the 

 field as soon as it is i lowed V why we have the surface cov- 

 ered with second-crop clover all winter before plowing (one 

 reason), all in this same dhection of saving moisture ? We 

 had a tremendous rain the other night, but it did not run at 

 all on my clo /er-tields, where we shall plant potatoes this 

 year. It soaked down, and part is stored up to draw on 

 when needed. 



1 hope it will not seem like bragging when I say we have 

 sold thousands of bushels of potatoes to farmers, during dry 

 years, who planted the usual quantity of land in the spring. 

 Why did they have to come to us in the fall ? 



It is true, that stirring the surface causes the soil actually 

 stirred (say an inch or two deep) to dry all the faster; then 

 this dry loose surface prevents the waste, for the most part, 

 of the large quantity of moisture below. And do not forget 

 that air in the soil is necessary to the growth of plants. You 

 give it a good chance to enter when the surface is loose, 

 instead of dried and baked. During a wet time, cultivation 

 is not needed on well-drained soil except to keep weeds 

 down. When t bowers come daily, tillage may stop ; but be 

 sure to stir the surface right after the last one. Better do 

 th.3 work for nothing five times than miss having it done at 

 this one important time. It would be easy to grow potatoes 

 if we knew beforehand what the season and the weather 

 would be. The best we can do is to be always prepared for 

 the worst. 



The amount of tillage that will pay depends somewhat on 

 the fertility of the soil. For example, my friend J. M. 

 Smith, who manures tremendously for garden crops, does 

 not cultivate more than half as much as I do. Excessive 

 fertility will take the place of tillage partly. Such soil will 

 not lose moisture as rapidly by evaporation. Mr. Smith's 

 tillage would be a partial failure some dry years on my ordi- 

 nary farm land, which is not any thing like as rich as his. 

 So we are both right in our practice. 



