432 FIELD CROPS 



Where potatoes are grown on a small scale, as for home 

 consumption, they are usually planted by opening furrows 

 with a common plow or with a winged shovel. The seed 

 is dropped in these furrows by hand, and is covered with the 

 harrow or the sulky cultivator. Where a large acreage is to 

 be grown, a potato planter is commonly used. Some of 

 these machines are supplied with pickers that pick up the 

 seed pieces and drop them at regular intervals; this type may 



Fig. 134. The potato planter. A good machine to use where several acres of 

 this crop are to be planted. 



be operated by one man. Another type is known as the 

 two-man potato planter; this requires a driver and an ad- 

 ditional man or boy to help in the feeding of the seed to 

 regulate the drop. This latter type is considered more ac- 

 curate, but is slightly more expensive to operate. These 

 potato planters are equipped with a shovel which opens the 

 furrow into which the seed is dropped, and with disks which 

 run behind and throw the dirt on the row to cover the seed. 

 A marker is provided to mark the next row as one is being 

 planted. 



