228 THE HOME ACRE. 



plough and hoe. In the final working I do not 

 permit a sharp-slanting slope from the plants 

 downward, so that the rain is kept from reaching 

 the roots. There is a broad hilling up, so as to 

 have a slope inward towards the plants, as well as 

 away from them. This method, with the deep, 

 loosened soil beneath the plants, secures against 

 drought, while the decayed fertilizers give a strong 

 and immediate growth. 



Of course we have to fight the potato, or Colo- 

 rado, beetle during the growing season. This 

 we do with Paris green applied in liquid form, a 

 heaping teaspoonful to a pail of water. 



In taking up and storing potatoes a very com- 

 mon error is fallen into. Sometimes even growing 

 tubers are so exposed to sun and light that they 

 become green. In this condition they are not only 

 worthless, but poisonous. If long exposed to light 

 after being dug, the solanine principle, which exists 

 chiefly in the stems and leaves, is developed in the 

 tubers. The more they are in the light, the less 

 value they possess, until they become worse than 

 worthless. They should be dug, if possible, on a 

 dry day, picked up promptly, and carried to a dry, 

 cool, dark cellar. If stored on floors of out-build- 

 ings, the light should be excluded. Potatoes that 

 are long exposed to light before the shops of deal- 

 ers are injured. Barrels, etc., containing them 



