• LESSONS FOR AMERICAN" POTATO GROWERS. 7 



one travels through the country seeking the causes of low yields they 

 are not hard to find. Imperfect preparation of the ground leaves a 

 poor seed bed. The seed potatoes may be unselected, more or less 

 diseased, cut too small, and carelessly planted. All these factors 

 combine to produce a broken stand. Many of our fields outside of 

 the leading potato districts have only half the number of plants that 

 would be found in a Scotch or German field. 



Carelessness is inexcusable, but the cheapness of our land and the 

 clearness of our labor may justify wider spacing in many localities, 

 if the use of implements is thereby favored. 



FERTILIZATION AND CULTURE. 



The use of commercial fertilizers is universal in Germany, but is 

 unknown in the western potato districts and is only in an experi- 

 mental stage in the Central States. We shall doubtless find it to our 

 profit to use more fertilizers, following the example set by those dis- 

 tricts in Maine, New York, and the Atlantic trucking belt where 

 potato growing is now most 'prosperous. 



Rotation of crops is of fundamental importance to all permanent 

 agriculture, but especially for the potato crop, for the control of 

 diseases and the maintenance of production. Germany has a long 

 rotation, three to seven years between potato crops, the United States 

 having only the beginning of an ordered system. The importance of 

 green manuring is not yet fully appreciated here. 



Thorough preparation of the land and frequent thorough cultiva- 

 tions are essential. Those farmers who have mastered these points 

 of manuring, rotation, and culture are producing crops which ap- 

 proach European standards. The cost of production is, however, 

 higher than it should be. 



CONTROL OF DISEASES AND INSECTS. 



American potato growers have more pests to contend with than 

 European farmers. One, the late-blight, we have in common. In 

 this field they have done more to produce resistant varieties, while 

 we have excelled in spraying technique. The Colorado potato beetle 

 and the potato flea beetle do not occur in Europe. Scab is not of 

 importance there. Very much more has to be done here before we 

 can feel that we are applying to the fullest extent our present knowl- 

 edge relative to the control of insects and diseases. The advantages 

 of spraying with Bordeaux mixture for the control of late-blight have 

 been demonstrated annually for 10 years by the New York Agricul- 

 tural Experiment Station at Geneva, yet last year millions of bushels 

 of New York potatoes decayed because farmers failed to spray or 

 did not spray thoroughly. 



