346 GARDEN FARMING 



the soils are light, quick, and sandy and where the temperature 

 becomes high early in the season. Another reason for the light 

 yields in the trucking regions, notwithstanding that large quantities 

 of fertilizers are used, is the immature condition of the greater part 

 of the crop when harvested. The potatoes do not have an oppor- 

 tunity to attain their full growth before they are harvested and 

 placed upon the market ; they are dug as soon as large enough, 

 regardless of the stage of development. 



Preparation of the soil. The fact that the potato is a hoe crop 

 makes it one of the best preparatory crops for grains, and is there- 

 fore chiefly planted upon land which has been in clover for at least 

 one year. A rotation by which potatoes follow clover, after the 

 second cutting, is considered almost ideal. The advantages of the 

 clover sod are twofold : it supplies organic matter which renders 

 the mechanical condition of the soil more suited to the develop- 

 ment of the tubers, and supplies the soil with humus which renders 

 it a better medium for carrying water to the plant. Clover is one 

 of the most valuable plants in agriculture. It belongs to the great 

 nitrogen-gathering group and gathers and stores up for future crops 

 the most expensive element of plant food, nitrogen. By a judicious 

 use of clovers with phosphoric acid and potash, the crop-producing 

 capacity of most soils can be maintained without the purchase of 

 nitrogen. Land which is in clover sod should be deeply and thor- 

 oughly plowed in the fall, or early in the spring, before the clover 

 has made any considerable growth, so as not to have too much fer- 

 menting organic matter in the soil near the seed. The plowing 

 should be done sufficiently in advance of the time of planting to 

 allow the sod to become somewhat decayed before the tubers are 

 planted. The implements used in the preparation of the soil should 

 be such as will thoroughly pulverize and fine it, leaving the sub- 

 surface thoroughly compact while maintaining a good seed bed 

 in the top three inches of the soil. Deep plowing and thorough 

 pulverizing with a disk harrow, followed by the acme harrow 

 prior to planting, should make a satisfactory seed bed. 



Seed. The term " seed " as applied to the cultivation of potatoes 

 has reference to the tubers which are used for the reproduction of 

 the crop. Technically the word means the fruit of the plant which 

 is borne in the seed balls formed after the blossoms fall ; but with 



