GROWING CULTIVATED CROPS IN DRY AREAS 293 



should be to plow in the fall, and deeply. Where the 

 conditions do not favor such plowing, the 'work may be 

 done in the spring. Potatoes want a deep seed bed. 

 Firming the lower seed bed is not so important for po- 

 tatoes as for most other crops. 



Planting. Since, in the semi-arid belt, the weather is 

 usually very dry after August 1st, the early varieties 

 should be preferred, other things being equal. The most 

 popular potato at present in much of the dry area is 

 the Early Ohio, and it is probably the most profitable. 

 The Burbank holds a prominent place among the later 

 varieties. Other varieties that have been more or less 

 grown are the Rural New Yorker, the Mammoth Pearl 

 and the North Pole. While the time for planting po- 

 tatoes will, of course, vary with latitude and altitude, the 

 aim should be to plant the crop at as early a date as will 

 be admissible because of the presence or absence of frosts. 

 This crop is easily injured by frost at all stages of its 

 growth. But the nipping of the young plants does not 

 mean their destruction ; it does mean, however, a consid- 

 erably retarded growth. It is important to give the plants 

 an early start in order that they may get all the benefit 

 possible from the rains before they cease to fall for the 

 season. The time for planting potatoes may begin about 

 the time when corn planting usually beings (see p. 274), 

 and it may be continued even later than would be suit- 

 able for corn, as, in some varieties at least, the potatoes 

 will mature in a shorter time than corn. In areas where 

 the winters are mild, potatoes are planted in the autumn, 

 putting the uncut sets down in the soil below the lower 

 frost line. 



The crop may be planted in hills or in drills. The 

 latter method is most commonly adopted when large 

 quantities are grown, as the planting is then done by the 

 aid of the potato planter. The hills are usually made 

 from 3 to 3% feet distant, and similar distances should 



