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deeply, leaving a decided ridge along the row. This 

 gives ample protection during the cool and frosty 

 weather. After the weather becomes warmer and 

 the tubers start into growth, these ridges may be 

 harrowed down with the ordinary smoothing har- 

 row by passing back and forth across them at 

 right angles. Such a practice loosens and aerates 

 the soil and at the same time destroys great lum- 

 bers of germinating weeds. 



Many growers successfully follow just the op- 

 posite plan of covering at planting time. Only 

 sufficient dirt to cover the potatoes one or two 

 inches deep will be pulled into the furrows. Then 

 after the potatoes appear above ground the stocky 

 growth of the top is covered up entirely with two or 

 three inches more soil. While this does not pro- 

 vide the protection from cold and frost the former 

 plan does, it has a tendency to increase the branch- 

 ing of the stems and thereby increase the yields. 



The depth to which potatoes should be planted 

 depends upon the season, the soils, and the plan of 

 cultivation to be followed. Early potatoes should 

 be planted deeper than those planted later in the 

 season. Shallow planting should be practiced on 

 more retentive and heavier types of soils. Hill or 

 ridge culture does not require as deep planting for 

 the best results as level culture. Three inches 

 should be considered the minimum depth, while six 

 inches is perhaps the maximum. A good average 

 for good potato soils where level cultivation is fol- 

 lowed is from four to five inches. Notwithstanding 

 ithe fact that practically every experiment with the 

 various types of cultivation has been in favor of level 

 cultivation, many growers still persist in following 

 the plan of hilling or ridging their crop. While the 



