THE POTATO. 203 



sunshine, they should be gathered as dug, carefully 

 emptied into barrels already ventilated, and either 

 promptly hauled from the field, or each barrel shaded 

 by potato vines. 



The diggers should not be permitted to bruise the po- 

 tatoes by pitching them upon piles or distant rows; nor 

 the pickers by throwing them roughly into their baskets. 

 The more carefully a vegetable is handled, the better will 

 it strike the buyer's eye, and consequently, the more 

 money will it bring the grower. Whatever be its size, 

 no cut or bruised potato should be shipped in the first 

 quality, but may be included in the "culls." The bar- 

 rels must be well shaken down, and so full that the heads 

 have to be pressed upon the contents, and they should be 

 double-headed and strongly coopered. 



The crop generally matures in this latitude about the 

 middle of May. An unripe potato in which the ctarch 

 has been imperfectly formed is slow to dry out and slow 

 to sprout. 



THE SECOND CROP. 



A sufficient quantity of the "culls" should, there- 

 fore, be reserved from the ripest portion of the field 

 for seed of the second crop, and stored in a cool, dry 

 place, excluded from the light. They may be covered 

 on a barn floor in alternate thin layers with very dry 

 sand, or put away in bushel crates. 



If exposed to warmth and moisture two or three 

 weeks before planting time, sprouting may be hastened 

 and a better stand be secured. The time to put in the 

 second crop is from the latter part of July to August 

 10th. If the eyes have sprouted, the tubers should be 

 cut, but otherwise planted whole. 



As at this time the weather is warm and the season 

 of growth short, they should be well manured and the 

 land deeply broken up and pulverized to retain mois- 



