28 maine agricultural experiment station. i9i4. 



High Ridge, Medium Ridge and Level Culture for Pota- 

 toes Compared. 



experiments in AROOSTOOK COUNTY. 



The method of ridge culture is almost universally used by 

 potato growers in Aroostook County. Probably over 90 per 

 cent of the farmers practice what might be called extreme 

 ridge culture. The ridging begins at the time of planting. The 

 planter most used has a plow so constructed that it makes little 

 more than a mark on the soil unless it is very light, instead of 

 a furrow, then the disks at the rear of the machine cover 

 the seed by throwing up a ridge perhaps 4 inches high so that 

 the seed at the very start is practically on a level with the sur- 

 face between the rows. A few farmers make a practice of 

 going over the field with a weeder and somewhat flattening the 

 ridge but the number that do this is comparatively few. The 

 method most usually followed is to go between the rows with 

 the cultivator perhaps 8 to 10 days after the potatoes are 

 planted and then as soon as they begin to break the ground 

 go over with the horse-hoe and bury them up also burying the 

 weeds at the same time and thereby raising the height of the 

 ridge. This kind of cultivation is continued until the tops 

 are too large to pass through without injury. By this time an 

 A shaped ridge has been formed about 12 to 15 inches high 

 and, of course, the surface between the rows has been dropped 

 by the continual scraping up of the soil so that the tubers grow- 

 ing in the ridge are considerably above the surface between 

 the rows. 



It can be readily seen that in a dry season a field so handled 

 must suffer considerably from lack of moisture. In the rather 

 wet seasons usual to Aroostook County no lack of moisture is 

 felt and the drains between the rows are an advantage rather 

 than an injury, but in an extremely dry season it would seem 

 that the drainage is too great. The ridges being high and nar- 

 row dry out very quickly and it would appear therefore the 

 crop must suffer more from lack of moisture than it would 

 if the roots of the plant were below the level as they are when 

 modified level culture is practiced. 



