136 



Nature- Study Agriculture 



Why seed 

 potatoes 

 should be 

 selected at 

 digging 



Caring for 

 seed tubers 



Planting 



W. T. SMUino 



FIG. in. Potatoes should be cut to the size of a small egg for planting. 

 (Egg at left of picture.) 



are being dug. Then they can be chosen from healthy 

 plants that have produced the largest number of good, 

 uniform potatoes. Seed selected from the bin, though 

 good looking, may have been produced on vines that 

 bore only a few good potatoes, and therefore a crop 

 grown from them would be poor. 



Potatoes for seed should be kept in a fairly light, dry 

 room. Any sprouts that form in the light will be short 

 and sturdy, not easily broken off in planting. Sprouts 

 formed in the dark are soft and long. Badly sprouted 

 tubers should not be used as seed. Potatoes should be 

 planted in rows three feet apart, with the hills fourteen 

 to eighteen inches apart in the row, four inches being 



