CHAPTER XIV. 

 CULTURE OF POTATOES. 



X selecting a piece of land on which potatoes 

 are to be grown, care must be taken to have 

 such soil as will drain very quickly after a 

 heavy rain, potatoes being very susceptible in 

 this respect. I have frequently known crops 

 to be entirely ruined by being inundated for 

 only a few hours. This is especially true when 

 the seed is first put in the ground. 

 Probably the best land for this purpose is dark, heavy alluvial 

 soil that contains a great amount of humus, with a subsoil porous, 

 but not leachy. An ideal potato soil is also found in the glade 

 clay, or what is locally known as marl, provided it is of a kind 

 that is covered with a heavy growth of grass and contains consid- 

 erable humus. The class of marl near the Coast that is known 

 as "front marl," which is affected by salt-water tides, is undesir- 

 able; the salt though making a nice smooth potato, at the same 

 time renders it unfit for food by making the potato soggy, so much 

 so that you could not sell it to the same customer twice. 



For this same reason, heavy applications of muriate of potash 

 or kainit are to be avoided on potato land. 



The land should be deeply plowed using a turn plow for this 

 purpose thoroughly disked and worked up into the finest possible 

 seed-bed. For this crop, it is best to plow the land just in advance 

 of planting time, as potatoes thrive better in a very porous, loose, 

 newly-thrown-up soil. Remove all obstacles such as trash, weeds 

 or debris of any kind. Furrows should be struck out about 

 eight inches in depth and not less than twelve inches in width. 

 It will be unnecessary to say. that these must be straight, for we 

 hope the contemplative truck grower will have sufficient pride 

 to always see that all his rows are laid out as straight as possible, 



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