POTATO CULTURE 



185 



New York 



Average 



Mean maximum 



Precipitation 



June 65*^ 

 July 70° 

 August 67° 



72- 79° 

 75-84° 



73- 81° 



3.68 

 3.99 

 3.90 



I don't think these average temperatures mean much. That is 

 not the real point. Almost invariably during those two months 

 in New York there is a period when the thermometer registers daily 

 in the nineties. The potato crop is a plant whose home is in the 

 mountain regions of the United States and Mexico. In those 

 mountain regions, the summer temperatures never get very high. 

 When we bring the potato plant into our general agricultural regions, 

 we are bringing it out of its natural habitat, and it suffers accordingly. 



In the other hall this morning, we discovered that Maine is way 

 ahead of New York as far as average yields are concerned. A'ou 

 see that the average temperature in Maine in considerably below 

 the average temperature of New York, but the mean maximum 

 temperature — the highest temperature which, in a series of years, 

 we may expect the hottest days to reach — will be represented as 

 above. The fact remains, though we cannot show it in the figures 

 here, that we in Xew York get a much larger proportion of those 

 blistering hot days than in those localities where potato production 

 is in a much better condition. However, I do not think it wise, if 

 some other locality has natural advantages we can not equal, to 

 ignore that fact, and hold ourselves responsible because we cannot 

 equal the production under the circumstances. So I believe we 

 shall be able to prove with statistics the general proposition that the 

 limiting factor for potato production in Xew York State is the 

 excessive temperature. 



There is another fact that I would call to your attention that I 

 think argues along this same line. You know very well that in the 

 mountain regions of Colorado, X'evada, and the western states where 

 irrigation is in use, they are getting some very good yields of 

 potatoes, comparable to those secured in Europe. Under irrigation, 

 they get perhaps six, seven, or eight hundred bushels per acre, but 

 of course they control the moisture, and see that the crops never lack 

 for moisture. The other factor in those mountain valleys is that the 

 temperature never gets very high. 



There is another thing, which is simply an observation. I have 

 been surprised to find in the southern part of the state, in the hilly 

 countries, in talking with individual farmers about the selection of 



