2o8 



the large commercial areas. It consists of a broad 

 steel point which runs under the hills, lifting the 

 tubers and tops and carrying them upward and back- 

 ward over a screen of steel bars. The earth is per- 

 mitted to fall through these bars while the potatoes 

 are carried to the rear of the machine and dropped 

 on the ground. The method of gathering the po- 

 tatoes from the field is largely a local practice, de- 

 pending to a considerable extent upon whether the 

 potatoes are to be marketed direct from the field or 

 stored and also upon the methods of digging era- 



AN INEXPENSIVE POTATO DIGGER 



ployed. A common practice in many localities is 

 to gather in crates in which they are taken either to 

 storage or to the car for shipping. The half-bushel 

 split baskets are frequently used for gathering, being 

 emptied directly into the gunny sack in which they 

 are to be shipped. The truck garden crop of the 

 South is nearly always shipped in ventilated barrels, 

 the top being covered with burlap tightly stretched 

 under the top hoop. Sacks are sometimes employed 

 and the crop sometimes shipped in bulk. The latter 

 methods are more common with the late crops 

 handled in the mature state. 



Sorting and grading are always practiced to a 



