156 The Potato 



with poor soil. The young plant can become established 

 and get its nourishment from the soil quicker. 



Whole seed matures the crop a few days earlier, an 

 advantage for early high prices, and is less likely to rot 

 in cold weather, and to attacks from soil diseases, as in 

 Colorado. 



Cutting seed 



Many tools have been invented for cutting seed potatoes, 

 but none is able to do as good work as the knife, either 

 in the hand or fastened in some way. The Colorado 

 cutting rack is a box on legs with slanted or sloping bot- 

 tom, having an opening at the side. To the rim of a 

 ledge at the front of the operator, a knife is fastened 

 with the point vertical. The seed rolls through the ad- 

 justable opening at the side to the ledge. The operator 

 picks up the seed without motion except that of his hand 

 and wrist and cuts the seed by pulling against the knife. 

 Some operators prefer to push against the knife, but the 

 pulling motion is better because the eyes are then always 

 in view, and better judgment can be used in allotting the 

 eyes to the different pieces from each potato. The cut 

 pieces drop into a crate or sack. Trouble with potato 

 diseases of the seed makes it always advisable to have 

 some means of disinfecting the cutting knives, even if 

 the seed is soaked, as no treatment" reaches into the in- 

 terior of the tuber. All seed suspected of being danger- 

 ously diseased should, of course, be thrown away. A 

 dish of formaldehyde solution in which to disinfect the 

 knife is advisable. Corrosive sublimate solution is a 

 better disinfectant, but is a very dangerous poison to have 

 around. 



With the Colorado cutting rack, the operator can do 



