COSTS AXD FARM PRACTICES IX PRODUCING POTATOES. 31 
one-row one-horse to two-row four-horse cultivators. The size of 
the outfit materially affects the man hours required per acre. The 
spike-tooth harrow and weeder are used to kill the young sprouts 
of weed seeds before and just as the potato plants appear above the 
ground. Considerable hoeing was done in a few of the areas. 
Spraying. — Insecticides and fungicides were applied in the form of 
spray or dust. In the areas of Clay County, Minn., and Barron and 
Waupaca, Wis., considerable dusting was done. Spraying was the 
most common form of application in the other areas. For all areas 
about one-third of the spraying and half of the dusting were done by 
hand. In the areas of Waupaca. Wis., and Grand Traverse. Mich. ; 
most of the spraying and dusting was done by hand. In the area 
of Steuben County. X. Y.. over half was done by hand. Of the 461 
farmers visited. 410 sprayed or dusted their potato fields. The least 
spraying and dusting was done in the area of Steuben and Monroe 
Counties, X. Y. Only 38 out of 50 farmers in the former district and 
only 30 out of 50 in the latter district did such work. 
Harvesting. — The harvesting of the crop required more man labor 
than any other operation connected with the growing of potatoes. 
Harvesting includes the digging, picking, and hauling to the barn. 
High yields increase the labor per acre, but reduce the labor per 
bushel over that required when yields are low. Hand digging is a 
common practice in Grand Traverse County. Mich., and Waupaca 
County. Wis. The difference in man labor per acre involved in hand 
digging and machine digging is strikingly shown in the labor practice 
tables. Potato picking by contract is the most usual practice in the 
areas of Clay County, Minn., and Aroostook County. Me. The average 
rate paid for picking in 1919 was 8-J cents a bushel in the former area 
and 4| cents a bushel in the latter area. 4 
After picking, the potatoes were hauled directly to the shipping 
station, to storage place, which was usually the barn or the house, or 
were pitted temporarily in the field. The pitting and hauling to 
storage were considered a part of harvesting. Pitting was most 
common in the Wisconsin and. Michigan areas. 
Marketing. — About 11 per cent of the man labor and 18 per cent of 
the horse labor in producing potatoes are devoted to marketing. 
This includes the work of sorting and grading and hauling to market. 
Part of the crop is hauled directly from the field to market and part 
from storage to market. Table 36 shows how the crop is disposed of 
in the areas studied. A few of the growers in the areas of Anoka 
County, Minn., and Monroe County, X". Y., hauled their crops directly 
to the city market, but most of the potatoes were hauled to the 
shipping station and sold on the cars. 
1 In the Maine area the unit of potato measure is the barrel. 
