CHAPTER XXII. 



HARVESTING THE POTATO CROP. 



HEN I began farming, the potato hook was in quite 

 common use as a tool to dig with. This is much 

 like a hoe, only there are four or five tines in the 

 place of blade. It is a sort of pronged hoe, excel- 

 lent for stirring the soil by hand around potatoes 

 or garden stuff or strawberry plants or in the flower 



beds. We have two and they are 



used a good deal, and are way 



ahead of the hoe to stir soil to 



keep weeds down and prevent a 



crust forming. These hooks are 



better to dig potatoes with than a 



hoe, as much better as they are 



to use in the garden. Many could 



hardly believe it, but I saw last 



year in Ohio five or six men dig- 

 ging potatoes in a large field of 



30 acres or more with hooks. It 



seemed as though I had gone back 



to my younger days, as I have 



not seen such a sight where I live 



for twenty years. The fork took 



the place of hook here long ago. 



This is not a manure fork, as 



some think who have not seen 



them and have written tome about 



them. It is a regular potato fork 



made on purpose for digging, with 



four or five stronger and wider 



tines than a manure fork has. 



They are found at all hardware 



stores, or country stores here. 



One can dig very much faster than 



with a hook. If conditions are 



right, in many cases it will be 



found now that to dig with a fork 



in the hands of a strong man who 



knows how to use it is the best 



way. I have had a good many 



thousand bushels dug that way. Potato Hooks and Fork. 



(185) 



