1264 



EARLE V. HARDENBURG 



of potatoes planted on May 20, by digging every ten days from August 

 2 to September 22. The yield increased from 30 bushels per acre on August 

 2, to 353 bushels per acre on September 22. Of this increase, 119 bushels 

 came after September 1, and 50 bushels developed during the last ten days. 

 Kohler (1910), working with the variety Early Ohio planted on June 3, 

 similarly tested the rapidity of development of the yield by digging about 

 every seven days from July 31 to August 30. During that period, the 

 foliage developed from an entirely green condition to complete maturity, 

 and the marketable yield increased from 10.9 bushels to 226.8 bushels 

 per acre. There was a gain in marketable yield of about 7 bushels a day 

 thruout the period, the yield increasing 44.7 bushels per acre during the 

 last week. These data emphasize the possible mistake which some grow- 

 ers make, of digging the crop prior to maturity in order to avoid unfavor- 

 able weather or to take advantage of the relatively high early-market 

 prices. 



It was not possible, for four reasons, to study by survey methods the 

 influence of date of harvest on yield in the four regions surveyed. First, 

 the information concerning the date of harvesting for Long Island was 

 insufficient; secondly, about 93 per cent of the growers in Steuben County 

 reported the crop more or less affected with late blight; thirdly, a large 

 proportion of the growers in Monroe County reported a killing frost in 

 1913 which cut down their crop exceptionally early, long before maturity, 

 and reduced the yield much below the average; and fourthly, in Franklin 

 and Clinton Counties the foliage is almost always killed by frost before 

 it is mature, as was the case in 1913. The average date of harvest in 

 the four regions for the years concerned in the survey, and the average 

 date of the first killing fall frost for each region, are given in table 90: 



TABLE 90. AVERAGE DATE OF HARVEST, AND AVERAGE DATE OF FIRST KILLING FROST, 

 IN THE FOUR REGIONS SURVEYED 



As is seen in table 90, the Long Island crop was harvested nearly a 

 month before that of any of the other regions, the average date of planting 

 being correspondingly earlier in this region due to climatic conditions. 

 With the exception of Irish Cobbler and other early varieties grown in 

 Nassau County, the crop in this district is usually mature before it is 

 dug. These early varieties are often harvested and marketed before 



