Grooving Potatoes for Profit' 



J 



UDGING from 30 years' experience, 

 the best soil for potatoes is a rich, 

 sandy loam, with six to nine inches 

 of surface soil, that is well drained 

 either naturally or by tile. Drainage 

 is important. Potatoes do not thrive 

 on land that is not well drained. Drained 

 swamp or muck lands grow good crops. 

 As many as 400 bushels an acre have 

 been grown on this kind of land. Sandy 

 lands require more manure than any 

 other kind. Stiff or heavy clay soils do 

 not grow good potatoes. A clay loam 

 will grow a good crop if properly 

 handled. 



PREPARATION OF THE LAND 



The land should be plowed and disc- 

 harrowed in August. It should be har- 

 rowed after each rain to keep down the 



A\'^. yV. DrovigHton, Sarnia, Ontario 



harrowed lightly. It is then ready to 

 plant. 



PLANTING 



It is best to plant potatoes, both early 

 and late varieties, as early as possible. 

 Some growers plant the later varieties 

 late. This is a mistake. I have found 

 that late varieties will do better when 

 planted early. 



The best early potatoes are Early 

 Ohio, Early Burpee, Bovee and Early 

 Michigan. The best late ones are Am- 

 erican Wonder, Rural New-Yorker, Em- 

 pire State, Elephants and Clark's No. 1. 



A change of seed is always desirable; 

 that is, from one kind of soil to another. 

 Seed potatoes should be of medium size 

 and cut to one or two eyes. They 

 should be planted as soon after cutting 



The Potato Planter at Work in Mr. Brougaton's Market Garden 



weeds and to clean the land. Just be- 

 fore it freezes, the land should be 

 plowed again seven or eight inches deep, 

 if the surface soil will permit. Land 

 prepared in this way the fall before, 

 stands the dry weather better than it 

 otherwise would. 



As soon as it is dry in the spring, the 

 land should be harrowed enough to 

 level it and then 25 or 30 loads of 

 rotten manure an acre should be put 

 on with a manure spreader. If the land 

 were a clover sod or second crop of 

 clover plowed under the fall before, less 

 manure is required. The land should 

 be plowed, harrowed, rolled and again 



*The first prize essay on "Potato Growing" 

 in the competition conducted by the Ontario 

 Vegetable Growers' Association. 



as possible. Plant them in drills from 

 30 to 32 inches apart and 12 to 14 

 inches apart in the drills, and about 

 four inches deep. 



I use an Improved Robbin's Planter, 

 which, in one operation, marks the row, 

 opens the furrow, drops the seed and 

 covers them. The machine requires a 

 man, a boy and a team of horses. 

 Planting done by the machine is better 

 than the old way of planting by hand, 

 for the following reasons : The depth is 

 uniform; 2, the seed is put in moist 

 earth, covered at once and, therefore, 

 not so apt to dry rot on account of lack 

 of moisture; 3, the rows can be made 

 straight ; and 4, time is saved in plant- 

 ing, as the machine will plant four or 

 five acres a day. The machine has a 



91 



fertilizer attachment that can be used 

 when desired. With it 400 to 800 

 pounds of good fertilizer can be put in 

 the rows. This gives the potatoes a 

 better start and insures a better crop. 



CULTIVATION 



A week or 10 days after planting, the 

 potatoes should be gone over with a 

 weeder, the same direction as planted, 

 to level the ridge that is left by the 

 planter and to kill small weeds. This 

 operation should be repeated every few 

 days until potatoes are a couple of 

 inches high. They should now be cul- 

 tivated with a cultivator every week 

 until tops are too large to permit culti- 

 vation. For the first few times they 

 should be cultivated deep and close to 

 plant, but shallower and farther from 

 plants as they grow. Hoe. them before 

 the tops get too large. At the last 

 cultivation, hill them sUghtly, just 

 enough to protect the potatoes from the 

 sun after the vines are dead. 



The vines should be kept free from 

 "bugs" by spraying with the following 

 mixture: Two pounds of good Paris 

 green to 50 gallons of water. For blight 

 they should be sprayed with Bordeaux 

 mixture five or six times during the 

 growing season. Apply the Paris green 

 and Bordeaux mixture at one applica- 

 tion. 



Melons and Melon Gro-win^f 



W. G. Home, Clarkson, Ontario 

 Muskmelons and watermelons require 

 warm, sandy land and considerable 

 manure. The latter should be spread 

 broadcast. It is too concentrated in 

 hills,- and has a tendency to dry them 

 out. All the roots that need feeding are 

 not only in the hills. They extend as 

 far under ground as the vine reaches 

 above ground. I have turned them up 

 with the cultivator much farther away 

 than I expected. 



Melons need good cultivation. While 

 the vines are small, the land cannot 

 be worked too much. The land should 

 be kept as free from weeds as possible. 

 Hot seasons suit melons best. They 

 are of better flavor when the season is 

 warm. They can stand dry weather 

 for a long time if we have heavy dew 

 at night. Much rain is not required, 

 and too wet weather causes musk- 

 melons to crack open. This renders 

 them unfit for market, and not much 

 good for home use. 



WORK IN THE HOTBED 



There is much to contend with in 

 growing melons for the early market. 

 It is necessary to start them in hotbeds, 



tExtract from an address delivered at the last 

 annual convention of the Ontario Vegetable 

 Growers' Association. 



