LEADING VEGETABLE CROPS 201 



themselves poorly adapted to European conditions. 

 Some varieties seem to do especially well in the 

 more retentive soils and cooler seasons of the North, 

 while others are of little value except in saiidy soils 

 and the shorter, hotter seasons of the southern 

 states. While with this great diversity of char- 

 acter it is possible to grow potatoes under almost 

 any climatic conditions arising in the temperate 

 zones, certain regions will always be found pecu- 

 liarly well adapted to the production of this crop. 



The potato is one of the leading truck crops of 

 the southern trucking sections, and at the same time 

 one of the principal crops of the northern districts. 

 Both late and early varieties are extensively grown 

 in all potato-producing districts, but early varieties 

 predominate in the South, while the late predom- 

 inate in the North. The two groups are founded 

 "upon varietal differences rather than upon methods 

 of cultivation. 



In a general way it may be stated that the late 

 potato growing sections, at least upon a large com- 

 mercial basis, may be said to be confined entirely to 

 the glaciated districts of the United States. Ex- 

 ceptions are to be found to this statement, how- 

 ever. Potatoes are grown upon a great variety 

 of soil types, and the claim is frequently made 

 that soil influences quality to a greater extent 

 than yield, which is modified more by climatic 

 conditions, cultivation and the fertilizers applied. 

 Inasmuch as the question of quality has always 

 been secondary to the consideration of yield in this 

 country, greater emphasis has been placed upon 

 climatic conditions, which accounts very largely for 

 the extensive development of potato growing in 

 certain restricted districts. Sandy loams containing 



