ROOT VEGETABLES 



dition for growing a good crop of smooth potatoes. 

 Do not plant potatoes on land which produced 

 scabby the previous year. 



Early potatoes may be planted as soon as the 

 ground can be put in condition in the spring, but 

 for the main or winter crop, late planting is usu- 

 ally more satisfactory. For one thing, these later-- 

 planted potatoes are less troubled with the potato 

 beetle and fewer cultivations are required to keep 

 down the weeds. No one should undertake the 

 growing of potatoes unless they have sufficient 

 energy to keep down the weeds, as they require 

 little hand work, and one or two hoeings will 

 fit them for work with horse or hand-cultivator. 

 Potatoes should never be banked or hilled up 

 at the beginning of the season; when this is 

 done at the start, it is practicably impossible to 

 keep control of the weeds. It is better to cultivate 

 on the level, either planting far enough apart in 

 the rows to allow of running the cultivator each 

 way, or they may be planted in rows three feet 

 apart and a foot apart in the rows, and covering 

 from three to four inches deep according to the 

 nature of the soil; three inches if the soil is heavy 



and cold, but four inches in light, sandy soil. 



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