SELECTION AND CARE OF THE SEED POTATO 31 



lighter, but not too light, loam the following year. The 

 stand and yield is always increased. This is a practice not 

 known to most potato growers. 



The year 1916 I had a 98% stand, and a yield at the 

 rate of four hundred sacks per acre. This land has been in 

 potatoes every year for twenty-three years. I attribute 

 this to the selection of good seed, planted at the proper time 

 and well cared for. The field picture is shown on page 41. 

 We would naturally conclude, then, that the value of good 

 seed cannot be overestimated. As much cultivation is put 

 into a 50% stand as a 98% stand, and almost the same ex- 

 penditures would produce a 98% to 99% crop. The gain in 

 the resulting crop from the use of good seed would be sur- 

 prising. While the 50% stand would hardly pay expenses, 

 with an 80 to 85% stand the grower would realize a good 

 net profit. When potatoes are a good price, a great number 

 of farmers buy any seed just so it is cheap, plant it, and ex- 

 pect a good crop. Instead, the results are poor and a very 

 inferior quality of potatoes are produced thus the loss of 

 time and money. They find that they cannot obtain a good 

 price for such quality of potatoes, so sell them at a very low 

 price to get rid of them. This floods the market with poor 

 quality potatoes, consequently the conscientious grower 

 will lose indirectly to a certain degree. Then the inexperi- 

 enced farmer decides there is nothing in it, so stops growing 

 them until the price is high again, when he begins again en- 

 thusiastically with the same method of poor seed, and nat- 

 urally produces the same results. 



The man who makes a success in potato-growing, as in 

 any other business or profession, is the one who has the 

 stick-to-it-iveness. He is the one who will get the best of 

 seed, no matter what the first cost is, and will always pro- 

 duce good potatoes. He will get the best price for them, 



