POTATO CULTURE. IBS 



Of course, these figures are not exact, and will vary some 

 from year to year ; but they are as nearly right as 1 can tell 

 you ; and you notice it does not cost the specialist, who has 

 arranged to reduce the cost of production, and who does all 

 he can to make a crop, any more to speak of than it costs 

 the average grower. In regard to the above figures I will say 

 that I have many times plowed two acres a day, of clover 

 sod, deep at that, so it would cost but $1.50 an acre. I figure 

 the harrowing, rolling, and cultivating at just what it costs 

 us ; that is, just the time we are in the habit of spending on 

 the job. 1 have put the seed pretty high to pay for the labor 

 of burying it. If we used our plows for marking out, instead 

 of the planter, it would cost us about $1.50 an acre more to 

 drop the seed by hand ; but we should save enough seed, 

 and get enough better yield to pay us several times over. I 

 have charged full price for use of horses with digger, and 

 enough to cover interest and wear on that as well as on the 

 planter. This is more than fair ; for, if we dug by hand, 

 the horses would be standing in the barn. Interest on land 

 may be too high for some localities ; but any good clear 

 potato-land here ought to be worth $100 an acre. I do not 

 say the farm is worth that, as a whole ; but the nice clean 

 field that is good potato soil. If you think this is too high, 

 then notice I have not charged for storage room or for use 

 of bushel boxes. I have figured, for some years, that, leav- 

 ing out manure, we could grow potatoes and put them on 

 the track, 2i miles away, directly from the field, for about 

 $30 an acre, and come out whole. 



Let us now go back to that year, 1883, when the average 

 crop brought about $35 an acre and gave no profit, to amount 

 to any thing at least. In such a year as that, an acre treated 

 as we have figured ought to yield 250 bushels of fine potatoes 

 that would sell for at least 5 cents above market price. 

 That would be 40 cents a bushel for that year, or $100 an 

 acre. Well, we got 40 cents that season for nearly all of ours, 

 and had decidedly more than 250 bushels per acre, on 24 ' 



