524 



POTATO 



POTATO 



Insects. — The flea-beetle (Crepidodera [Epitrix] 

 cucumeris) attacks the leaves, puncturing them and 

 thus furnishing an easy entrance for spores of dis- 

 eases. Spraying with Bordeaux mixture as soon 

 as the insects appear is of value. It acts as a 

 deterrent. On the Pacific coast other flea-beetles 

 occur, and for such the use of arsenites alone or 

 in Bordeaux mixture is advised. 



Fig. 752. Distributioii of late blieht {Phytophthora infestans) of potato Indicated by lines, and of cot- 

 ton-wilt {Neocosmospora vasinfecta) indicated by dots. Yearbook, Department of Agriculture, 1903. 



The potato-bug or Colorado potato-beetle (Do- 

 ry phora deeemlineata, Fig. 753), the larva of which 

 attacks the foliage, is destroyed by spraying with 

 Paris green or some other arsenite in a solution, 

 preferably Bordeaux mixture, using one-fourth to 

 one-half pound of Paris green to fifty gallons of 

 solution, and applying 150 to 200 gallons per acre 

 when the foliage is well grown. 



The old-fashioned potato-bug or blister-beetle 

 (Epieauta vittata) is combated in the same way as 

 the Colorado potato-beetle. It is now rarely seen. 

 The potato-worm (Geleehia opereulella) is injurious 

 on the Pacific coast. The potato-stalk weevil ( Trieho- 

 baris trinotata) attacks the stems. It is found from 

 Canada to Florida. 



The barrel and sack are often used in shipping. 

 The potatoes must be graded before shipment and 

 all small, diseased or ill-shaped tubers sorted out. 

 Eight to 10 per cent commission is usually charged 

 by salesmen in New York, Philadelphia and other 

 markets. When potatoes are shipped any distance 

 by rail, it not infrequently happens that of the 

 price paid by the consumer for a bushel of pota- 

 toes about two- 

 thirds is required 

 to defray the cost 

 of transportation 

 and distribution, 

 and one-third is 

 left for the 

 grower. 



Machinery. (Pigs. 

 754-760.) 



Potato machi- 

 nery is in a much 

 less satisfactory 

 condition than 

 that used by the 

 grain- or hay- 

 grower. There 

 are no potato 

 planters which 

 will plant all the 

 tubers all the 

 time unless a man 

 sits behind to 

 look after them ; 



In the United States, potatoes are used almost 

 entirely as human food, a few million bushels being 

 used for the manufacture of starch. They may be 

 desiccated and in this form can be readily trans- 

 ported. In Europe, large quantities are used for 

 the manufacture of starch and alcohol, the latter 

 being a cheap source of power for motors. Pota- 

 toes are also used as a stock-food, either raw, 

 cooked or as silage. [For the making of alcohol, see 

 Part II of this volume.] 



Marketing. 



Potatoes are sold by the pound, peck, bushel, 

 barrel, cental, sack and car lot. The bushel box 

 is the most convenient package for a home market. 



80 to 95 per cent perfect is the best that has been 

 attained automatically, tew of the potato spray- 

 ing machines carry enough nozzles to ensure the 

 covering of the whole of the plants with the spray. 

 With potato harvesting machinery the aim has been 

 to supply a two-horse machine, and in some cases 

 these are efiicient, but in some soils three or four 

 horses are necessary to handle 

 the same machine. The shovel 

 plow is not an efiicient tool and 

 is of little value for the com- 

 mercial grower. The elevator 

 diggers, of which there are sev- 

 eral makes, are a distinct ad- 

 vance. There are two types, the 

 high elevator, in which the pota- 

 toes and soil are lifted to a 

 height of two or more feet up an 

 inclined plane and shaken mean- 

 while, and the low elevator, in 

 which the soil and potatoes are 

 elevated very little, but are passed backward over 

 disk-like rollers. 



In spite of defects, any commercial grower who 

 has ten acres of potatoes needs a planter, sprayer, 

 cultivator and digger of the most approved types. 

 With a good planter a man can open, distribute the 

 fertilizer, plant and cover three to six acres pei 

 day, and by changing teams during the day the 

 machine may be run at the maximum figure. A 

 weeder will cover twenty acres a day once. With 

 reasonable facilities for filling, a spraying machine 



Fig. 753. 

 Potato -beetle (Do- 

 ryphora deeemlin- 

 eata) . 



