168 PRODUCTIVE FARMING 



ground is mellow no tillage is given, at least until the vines are 

 half grown. In some cases no tillage whatever is required. 



Early varieties should be planted for the second crop of 

 potatoes. Lookout Mountauij Green Mountain, Irish Cob- 

 bler, Early White Triumph, and Red Triumph are popular 

 for both plantings in the South. 



Distances for Planting Potatoes vary somewhat in dif- 



FIG. 87. Digging potatoes by use of a machine and four horses. Men, women and 

 children sometimes pick up the potatoes after the machine. 



ferent potato districts. Very commonly the rows are three 

 feet apart and the seed-pieces are twelve or eighteen inches 

 apart in the rows. Ten bushels of seed potatoes are required 

 to plant an acre, at distances one and a half by three feet, if 

 the pieces weigh one ounce each. 



Cultivation. After the planting is done the field should 

 be harrowed. After this frequent shallow cultivations are 

 made until the vines are so large that they shade the soil 

 well. A light ridging of the soil towards the rows at the time 

 of the last cultivation is usually practiced, the purpose being 

 to prevent the new tubers from growing out of the ground. 



Insect Pests and Diseases. Farmers have lost many 

 acres of Irish potatoes through the ravages of insects or plant 

 diseases which they did not know how to combat. But 

 through the experiments made at the State experiment 

 stations, farmers are now able to control both insects and 

 plant diseases. 



