Food for $2.36 greater market value per ton, an advance over 

 1 the manure-grown crop of 13 per cent. 



1 66 



Potatoes. 



As is well known this crop must have a deep mel- 

 low soil, inclining more to sand than clay. The soil 

 must be fined to a considerable depth, and kept free 

 of weeds throughout the growing season. The most 

 successful growers use only commercial fertilizers, and 

 the amounts applied per acre range from 200 pounds to 

 1,000 and even 2,000. The fertilizer used should be 

 high in potash, and this potash should be of such form 

 as to be free or nearly free of chlorine, such as sulphate 

 of potash. Early potatoes have a short season of 

 growth,. and the Nitrating action in the soil is insufficient 

 to keep up a high pressure of growth during the earlier 

 weeks. For this crop Nitrate of Soda is indispensable, 

 top-dressing along the rows as soon as the plants are 

 well above the ground and at the rate of 200 pounds 

 per acre. For fall potatoes, an application of 50 to 100 

 pounds of Nitrate will be sufficient. 



Heavy yields of potatoes can be secured only with 

 good seed. Many of the most successful growers cold- 

 storage their seedpotatoes, that the vitality of the seed 

 may not be reduced by freezing and thawing ^during 

 winter. Seed should be cut to two or three "eyes," 

 and only tubers of the best quality used. The rows 

 should be about three feet apart, and the seed dropped 



fifteen inches apart in the rows. 

 Applying The land is first marked and a fur- 



Fertilizers for rower run along the rows, making a 

 Potatoes. furrow about four inches deep. In this 



furrow the fertilizer is applied, either by hand, or with 

 a distributor, and well mixed with the soil. This is 

 best done by running a cultivator along the row; or 

 when a distributor is used, an attachment in the form 

 of a small cultivator can be made to do the work at one 

 operation. The potatoes are then dropped in the 

 furrow and covered. If it is thought best to cultivate 

 both ways, the land can be marked across the furrows 

 after the fertilizer is applied. 



