134 
A KITCHEN GARDEN 
lessened. Where the main crop of potatoes is to be 
raised in the garden, they should be planted about 
the first day of May, or the middle of April, that 
they may be harvested by the middle or last of 
August, and the ground used for a crop of turnips, 
peas, or other second-crop vegetables. As soon as 
the vines begin to die, and the skin of the potatoes 
is well set, so that it will not rub off with the fingers, 
the tubers should be dug or plowed up and stored, 
not only that the ground may be used again, but 
because, if they are left in the ground, they will either 
start to grow again or begin to rot. When dug, I 
pile them in small heaps of twenty bushels or so on 
the barn floor, dusting each pile as it is made with 
dry, air-slacked lime, about a quart to a heap; this 
helps to dry and preserve them, and prevents any 
tendency to rot. The barn doors are left open through 
the day, for a few days, and the potatoes dry gradually, 
until time for storing them, when it comes cold, 
though where there is a cool vegetable cellar it will 
save time to store them at once, and, of course, at this 
time of the year the ventilators of the cellar should 
be wide open. Where the cellar is too warm and the 
potatoes start to sprout, it is said that it may be pre¬ 
vented by turning them frequently, but I have never 
had an opportunity to try it. The first planting 
should he made of some very early ripening varieties, 
while the main crop should be of a kind selected for 
good size, heavy cropping, and the best cooking quali¬ 
ties. 
