312 SUCCESSFUL FARMING 



The Soil. — The potato is a tuber developing below the surface of the 

 ground and displacing soil particles as it grows. Therefore, a mellow soil is 

 essential. The best potato lands are naturally loose, but somewhat heavy 

 soils have been brought into profitable production by the free use of organic 

 matter from sods and cover crops. A good potato soil is retentive of 

 moisture, and rotted organic matter in it serves as the best insurance 

 against drought. Some light, sandy soils of the seaboard states are put 

 into productive condition by means of cover crops and manure which give 

 them body and excellent physical condition. Soils naturally too compact 

 for the potato may be made loose, friable and retentive of moisture by the 

 same means. 



Crop Rotation. — The history of potato production in other countries 

 as well as our own teaches clearly that this crop should be grown in rota- 

 tion with others and that when the crop rotation is shorter than four years 

 there is great danger of ultimate failure. The practice of growing potatoes 

 year after year on the same land, using a winter cover crop, or of using a 

 rotation of two years onl}^, may prevail for a number of years in a region 

 peculiarly adapted to the crop, but it is only a matter of time until yields 

 will be badly cut by disease and lack of vegetable matter in the soil. One 

 excellent crop rotation is clover, corn, potatoes and grain, followed by 

 clover. The manure is put on the field for corn, and both it and the sod 

 are thoroughly rotted for the potato the following year. Another rotation 

 of some reputation is clover, potatoes and wheat. The clover sod rots 

 more readily than a grass sod and feeds the potato and at the same time 

 keeps the soil mellow. A fresh-turned grass sod does not favor this crop. 

 When it is necessary to follow grass with potatoes the sod should be broken 

 in the fall, and if there is danger of undue leaching, a winter cover crop of 

 rye or wheat should be grown. 



Soil Preparation. — A deep soil holds moisture better than a shallow 

 one, and our more productive potato lands have been made and are kept 

 deep by proper plowing. A shallow soil should be deepened gradually, 

 and the best part of the sod never should be thrown into the bottom of the 

 furrow. A breaking-plow having a short, straight mold-board is to be 

 preferred for all land that is .at all deficient in humus, as it is essential that 

 some organic matter be in the surfac9 soil. The time of plowing is a local 

 question. Wherever leaching is not to be feared and early planting is 

 practiced, fall plowing is advised. When land is broken in the fall or very 

 early in the spring, it is less subject to summer drought than late-plowed 

 ground. We should bear in mind all the time that a supply of moisture is a 

 big consideration and in the preparation of the ground that should be 

 kept chiefly in view. The use of a heavily weighted, sharp, disk harrow on 

 sod land before it is broken does much to hasten decay after the plowing 

 and to insure prime physical condition. It is easy to do harm by tramping 

 plowed land with horses in the spring, and disking before plowing reduces 

 the amount of required preparation after the plowing. 



