Harvesting the Potato 231 



It is often necessary, also, to dig early potatoes by hand. 

 In the early varieties the skin is tender and easily in- 

 jured by the digging machinery. The tubers also cling 

 to the underground stems and frequently have to be 

 pulled off. A man will dig from | to | acres a day, 

 depending on the yield and type of soil. 



Digging by plows is not to be recommended unless it 

 is a case of getting part of the crop or none. The plows 

 cut and otherwise injure many of the tubers, and they 

 cover nearly as many potatoes as they turn up. Growers 

 usually agree that hand-digging secures enough more 

 potatoes than plowing to make the extra labor well worth 

 while. 



When the planting is relatively large, it pays the grower 

 to buy a good digging machine. Such machines work 

 quickly and are usually very satisfactory. In heavy 

 soils and stony soils, and in cases in which the plantings 

 are deep, there is a question as to their efficiency. 



The type of machine commonly used in this country 

 has a steel nose which runs under the row and lifts potatoes 

 and soil onto a grating of iron rods. The soil falls through 

 the grating and the potatoes travel along the rods and 

 are dropped at the back of the machine on top of the 

 ground. From two to four horses are used on such a 

 machine. A good machine will dig from 3 to 6 acres of 

 potatoes a day, and will keep from 10 to 15 men busy 

 picking them up. A second type of digger, less com- 

 monly used, has a revolving frame with forks which dig 

 into the ground at right angles to the row. Potatoes 

 and soil are thrown against a screen and the soil passes 

 through, leaving the potatoes in a row upon the ground. 



When a digging machine is used, it is sometimes neces- 

 sary to remove the dead vines from the rows before 



