24 New Hampshire Experiment Station [Bulletin 239 



a labor saver. Hig-h ridging-, or hilling', damages the roots between 

 the rows and may affect drouth resistance. 



On the poorer drained soils the present methods of planting, 

 cultivation, and ridging or hilling are desirable. On the better 

 drained and lighter soils, planting at a somewhat greater depth and 

 covering the potato less deeply at the start would give quicker ger- 

 mination and easier weed control with much less hilling. A simple 

 ridging would be sufficient. Digging by hand under this system 

 would be more difficult, and machine digging would be necessary. 

 But frequently a better crop with a larger proportion of marketable 

 tubers would be secured. 



The best cultivation is done with a riding cultivator. A two- 

 row cultivator materially reduced the job. Six to eight acres a day 

 were cultivated with a two horse outfit ; one horse cultivation was at 

 the rate of four to five acres a day. 



Shallow cultivations, except for the first, gave more satisfac- 

 tory results. 



Harvesting 



Where vines are kept green till digging time their disposal 

 presents a problem. Occasionally they are cut and raked off. More 

 frequently they are pulled by hand. When vines are partly dead, 

 raking with a horse rake frequently removes enough to make dig- 

 ging faster. Horse methods of removing vines economize on man 

 labor. 



In clean land under present cultural practices two good horses 

 on an elevator digger can handle a day's digging. On larger areas 

 with longer, steadier traction, such diggers work more satisfac- 

 torily wilh three horses. If planted deeply and only light ridg- 

 ing is practiced the three horses would be necessary. 



On still larger areas a horse-drawn power-driven elevator 

 digger is more satisfactory. It works well on weedy land. 



Picking is accomplished in various ways. On certain farms 

 pickers were paid by the bushel. Most pickers, however, were paid 

 by the day. 



i^arger yields make piece work more profitable than small 

 yields. Therefore, much piece work is done in the north. Pick- 

 ing into bushel baskets and emptying into feed sacks left 

 for the wagon or truck is the common custom. Two growers 

 picked in baskets and emptied into a tip cart which was unloaded 

 directly into the cellar by a chute. Much bruising accompanied this 

 method. One grower picked into crates which were hauled to the 

 storage and dumped. This method on the larger areas necessitates 

 a considerable storage space for crates. 



In contrast to these methods Maine growers pick in half bushel 

 stiff handled baskets and empty into barrels which are hauled on 

 low wagons. With care very little bruising results. Only a few 

 New Hampshire growers use this method, but they accomplished 

 their digging with less labor and less energy than is required with 

 the bushel basket. The saving in time amounted to the equivalent 

 of one man in seven. 



