SCORING POTATOES 231 



burned lime to fifty gallons of water. (See chapter on Control of 

 Insects and Diseases.) 



Fighting potato beetles must begin early. As soon as the old 

 beetles appear they may be destroyed before the eggs are deposited. 

 As soon as the eggs hatch the young begin feeding and poison 

 must be kept upon the plants until the crop is produced, or until 

 the insects are destroyed. The frequency of spraying depends 

 upon whether the poison is washed off or not, but after the vines 

 produce much new growth this must be covered with the poison. 



Harvesting. On large commercial plantations potatoes are 

 dug with machines. There are several types of diggers. The 

 best machines lift the potatoes and soil over a carrier, which travels 

 above the axle of the machine and leaves the tubers in a row 

 behind (Figs. 163 and 164). The soil is separated from the potatoes 

 as they move backward. These machines are very successful and 

 save much hand labor. Small areas of potatoes are commonly 

 harvested by the use of hand diggers. An inexpensive plow-digger 

 is shown in figure 165. 



Scoring Potatoes. Judging potatoes is a good exercise for 

 students. Nothing else will call such close attention to the char- 

 acters of the different varieties as this. The score card used by 

 the growers near Greeley, Colorado, is as follows: 



Size 20 



Too large, cut 2 



Too small, cut 12 



Not even, cut 6 

 Appearance 60 



Not bright, cut 10 



Dirty, cut 10 



Scabby or wormy, cut 40 



Shape 10 



Quality 10 



Unsound, cut 5 



Brittle or spongy, cut 5 



Total 100 



SWEET POTATOES 



As a market crop sweet potato growing is rapidly gaining 

 in importance in this countiy. It is a crop well suited to warm 

 climates and commercial fields are found throughout the southern 

 states. For home use it is also grown to more limited extent in 

 all northern states. 



