122 Truck Growing in the South. 



maud. Whenever the fancy trade is supplied and thev 

 get to be very plentiful in the market and the price comes 

 down to the level of the working class, a heavy crop of 

 potatoes coming into competition with an unusually large 

 crop of old potatoes, necessarily brings the price very low 

 on both. 



Varieties. 



As in the case with all other plants, the question of va- 

 rieties is a very important one to consider. 



For Southern planting, the Rose has always had the 

 preference. Spalding's Rose I^o. 4 is decidely the most 

 popular potato to-day in this section. Bliss' Eed is an 

 early potato, some ten days earlier than Spalding's Rose, 

 but is very susceptible to blight, and unless seed can be 

 obtained that is free from blight and planted on land 

 that is practically free from blight, it is not advisable to 

 plant this variety. 



There are other early varieties that are preferred per- 

 haps in some localities, but I think there are very few that 

 will equal Spalding's Rose. 



Planting in the latitude of South Florida should begin 

 about January 15th. In the lower section of other Gulf 

 States about February 1st would be full early. 



Cutting the potato is a question on which there has been 

 much diversity of opinion. The universal experience of 

 planters, however, seems to be settled that potatoes should 

 be planted fresh cut. Some experiments have been madf> 

 drying the potato after it has been cut, and some with lin- 

 ing, but from my own experience and observation it is de- 



