528 



POTATO 



POTATO 



the quality of the potato, should be given the 

 preference over other sources of potash. 



The fertilizer may be applied in one or two 

 separate applications. On the whole, except 

 possibly on very light soils, where loss from leach- 



Fig. 762. Berries or seed-balls of the potato. 



ing may occur, it is just as well to put the entire 

 quantity in the soil before planting the crop. 



Planting. — The ridge should be split open and 

 the seed dropped on the normal level of the ground 

 or a little above it. It may be dropped by hand 

 and covered with a disk-cultivator, but in all large 

 plantings the potato-planter must be used. 



To secure a more uniform stand and stronger 

 plants, the seed should be exposed to strong light 

 (not sunlight) for some time before planting. Seed 

 intended for fall -planting should be spread out 

 under the shade of a tree, covered with pine-straw 

 and allowed to sprout before planting. Only that 

 seed which has sprouted should be used. The 

 potatoes should be cut and planted immediately 

 afterward. Cutting by hand is preferred, as a 

 larger yield is generally secured. The cost of cut- 

 ting the seed and planting (if a planter is used) 

 is two to two and one-half dollars per acre. 



Cultivation. — In normal seasons, all the necessary 

 cultivation can be done with a weeder and disk- 

 cultivator, although if crab-grass gets a start, as 

 it frequently does in wet weather, the hand hoe 

 must be used. Even then the cost of hand-work 

 should not exceed twenty-five or thirty cents per 

 acre. The disk-cultivator puts the middles and 

 sides of the rows in excellent condition, while the 

 weeder can be used to stir the tops of the ridges 

 until the vines are five or six inches high. If the 

 stand is good, the ridge tops will then need little 

 or no further attention. During the season, six to 

 eight cultivations should be given to secure the 

 best yields. When the tops begin to spread, culti- 

 vation may be discontinued. If cold weather is 

 approaching when the plants are two or three 

 inches high, they may be covered with the disk- 



cultivator and allowed to grow out again without 

 uncovering. If larger, they may be partially 

 covered. 



Digging and packing. 



When the tubers are two-thirds grown, they are 

 ready for digging. A good average yield at this 

 stage of growth is fifty barrels per acre. If the 

 area is large and considerable time is taken in 

 digging, a yield of fifty barrels at the beginning 

 will run up to seventy-five or eighty barrels toward 

 the close of the work, the greater yield being due 

 to the increase in the size of the potatoes. 



Many growers prefer to dig by hand, as the mass 

 of green vines and the tender skins of the new 

 potatoes often make the use of a digger unsatis- 

 factory. In digging by hand, the ridge should be ' 

 barred oif on both sides, the remaining part being 

 leveled down and the potatoes exposed, using 

 ordinary prong hoes. 



The potatoes should be graded into firsts and 

 seconds as they are picked. Two gangs of pickers 

 in charge of competent foremen should be em- 

 ployed, one gang to pick up the firsts, the other, 

 the seconds. The less handling the potatoes receive 

 the fewer breaks there will be in the skins. The 

 barrels of firsts and seconds should be lined up in 

 separate rows, to prevent mistakes. The pack 

 should be full, well shaken down and the head 

 forced into place with a barrel press. Then the 

 barrels are headed and stenciled. 



The barrels should be new, clean and bright. 

 Proper ventilation can be secured by means of one- 

 inch auger holes, fifteen or sixteen in number, 

 bored in the sides. 



Potato literature (Eraser). 



S. Fraser, The Potato, Orange Judd Company, 

 New York (1905); T. W. Sanders, The Book of the 

 Potato, Collingridge, London (1905); P. B. Van 

 Orman, Potatoes for Profit, tenth edition, Philadel- 

 phia, Pa. (1904); W. J. Maiden, The Potato in Field 

 and Garden, London (1895) ; E. S. Carman, The New 

 Potato Culture, Rural Publishing Company, New 

 York (1891) ; Sir J. B. Lawes and J. H. Gilbert, 

 Composition of Potatoes and Results of Experi- 

 ments with Potatoes (1890), Rothamsted Memoirs, 

 Vols. V and VI; E. V. Rodiczky, Die Biographie der 

 Kartoffel, Vienna (1878) ; J. Reinke and G. Berthold, 

 Die Zersetzung der Kartofl'el durch Pilze, Berlin 

 (1879) ; C. V. Riley, Potato Pests, New York (1876); 

 R. A. Bruckmann et. al.. Die Kartoflfel und ihre 

 Kultur, Berlin (1876); James Cuthill, Practical 

 Instructions for the Cultivation of the Potato, 

 fifth edition (1872); Alfred Smee, The Potato Plant, 

 London (1846); E. L. Pratt, Observations on the 

 Potato and Remedy for the Potato Plague, Boston 

 (1846); C. F. Dertinger, Solani tuberosi esculenti, 

 Tubir.gse (1774). State experiment station investi- 

 tigations are summarized in the Experiment Station 

 Record issued by the OSice of Experiment Stations, 

 Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. C. 

 The United States Department of Agriculture has 

 issued two Farmers' Bulletins — No. 35, Potato 

 Culture ; No. 91, Potato Diseases and Treatment. 



