Second, or Fall Crop of Potatoes 183 



common practice to carefully place the cut part of the 

 tuber down. In my boyhood I was required to plant 

 them in this way. Usually when the blossoms appear, 

 there are edible tubers at the roots. The tubers grow 

 upon underground stems, put forth for that purpose, 

 and not on the true roots. When the vines turn yellow, 

 dig the tubers with as little exposure to the sun as 

 possible. Spread in a cool room or on the ground under 

 a house. If exposed too much to light, the tubers will 

 turn green and become unfit for the table. Air -slaked 

 lime sprinkled over them will cause them to keep better. 

 Usually the potatoes are dug in June, in time for a crop 

 of corn to be grown after them. If mulch is used and 

 worked into the soil in digging the potatoes, the land 

 will be in a good condition for celery to be transplanted 

 in July, and, when the celery is taken off, an excellent 

 preparation has been made for strawberries, which re- 

 quire a soil well supplied with humus. 



THE SECOND, OR FALL CROP 



The second, or fall crop is of greater importance in 

 the family than the spring crop, because they keep 

 better for winter consumption than those harvested in 

 June and are much superior in table quality to the 

 latter. Potatoes of the previous year's crop, preserved 

 until June in cold storage, are sometimes used for 

 planting the fall crop, but they have not proved so 

 satisfactory as seed from the first or spring crop of the 

 current year. Practically the only difficulty in the way of 

 growing the fall crop is in securing a stand. This may 



