246 POTATOES 



be used. An average-sized tuber, true to type in shape, is 

 preferable. 



Hill selection, that is, picking out seed potatoes in the 

 field from large hills, is better than bin selection. The pota- 

 toes in one hill may weigh twelve ounces, and those in an- 

 other eight ounces, though the better ones in the two hills 

 may look just alike. The potatoes of the better hill will 

 tend to transmit to the next generation their high producing 



CLASS SELECTING SEED POTATOES. 



quality. In selecting seed from the bin, one could not 

 tell whether the seed came from a high or low yielding hill. 



182. The soil should be of a sandy or gravelly loam, if 

 possible. Potatoes are less likely to be attacked by rot in 

 sandy soils than in clayey ones. In crop rotation, potatoes 

 best follow clover. In selecting a commercial fertilizer, 

 one strong in potash is best ; and unless nitrogen has been 

 supplied to the soil by clover, that costly element also 

 must be secured in the fertilizer. In clayey soils, how- 

 ever, where manure poor in phosphoric acid has been 

 applied, some fertilizer rich in phosphoric acid should be 

 applied directly to the crop, or elsewhere in the rotation. 

 See Bulletin 187, Geneva, N.Y. Potato planting should 

 be preceded by deep plowing. 



183. In planting we must consider the distance apart at 

 which to place seed, and the depth. 



