CHAPTER IV 

 ROTATION 



In some cases potatoes are grown continuously for 

 several years on the same soil, but a rotation of crops 

 is preferable for many reasons — among others, to lessen 

 the dangers of attacks of diseases and insects, and to 

 bring the soil into a suitable physical condition for 

 growing this crop. Some rotations suggested by 

 Wheeler, of the Rhode Island Experiment Station,' 

 are as follows: three-year rotation — potatoes, winter 

 rye, counnon red clover; four-5^ear rotation — corn on 

 clover sod, potatoes, winter rye, clover. This can be 

 made into a five-year rotation by seeding timothy and 

 redtop with the clover, and leaving the mixture down 

 two 3'ears, thus reducing the labor bill to some ex- 

 tent. Trials of these and other rotations were made 

 on land so poor that corn attained a hight of but 4 

 or 5 inches, while the first crops of salable potatoes 

 were but 65 bushels per acre. During later years, 

 with management similar to that given the first year, 

 and the application of a similar amount of fertilizers, 

 the yields ran up to 350 bushels of salable potatoes per 

 acre. A common Maine rotation is a four-year course 

 of potatoes, oats, clover and grass, the latter for two 

 years — it being noted that clover thrives on good po- 

 tato land. In deciding upon the rotation it is important 



' R. I. Bui. 74, 75, 76. 



36 



