September, 1914 
HOUSE AND GARDEN 
149 
the bugs seemed to be immune to such 
treatment—throve under it, in fact. The 
weeds gave the potatoes a hard race, but 
by dint of frequent cultivation and hoeing 
they were subdued to a certain extent. A 
second application of fertilizer was made 
about this time. George, my helper, used 
it on a rather windy day and the fertilizer 
was blown about somewhat. Every plant 
that was touched by it promptly curled up 
and died—and they were not few. Later, 
despite the formaline treatment given to 
the seed, the blight began to put in ap¬ 
pearance. I hired a team, a barrel sprayer 
and a couple of additional men, and 
sprayed several times with Bordeaux Mix¬ 
ture, but the blight continued. As the 
summer drew along, the tops finally all 
died and I had the rows dug up. Instead 
of my expected twelve or fifteen hundred 
bushels I obtained a meager thirty-five At ploughing and harrowing time no teams were to hire; when I did find one the work had to be done in 
bushels’ large and small—mostly small. pa,ches ’ lhe 30,1 of,en scarcely fit t0 work 
Upon inquiry at the local “produce ex¬ 
change’’ I found that they would pay me fifty-three cents 
a bushel for the largest of them. I declined to sell at 
that price, and am still holding them, waiting for a ris¬ 
ing market. It seems doubtful if I shall be able to hold 
them until they realize $5 per bushel, which will be 
necessary if I am to make any profit from the crop. 
The expenses and receipts of the crop were as follows: 
Expenses 
Preparation of soil. $6.50 
Fertilizer. 59.00 
Seed, etc. 23.20 
Planting, cultivation, etc. 22.25 
Spraying. 23.00 
Harvesting. 16.50 
Total cost. $150.45 
Receipts 
To 35 bushels of potatoes at 35 cents. $18.55 .. . 
Defirit t o My dream or a fortune in alfalfa was shattered when the figure showed a loss of $53 on the crop. 
^ 6 Weeds would have proven cheaper 
It is somewhat saddening to contem¬ 
plate the melancholy fact that, had I al¬ 
lowed my potato field to grow up to weeds, 
I would have been richer by some $131.90, 
although perhaps it would be more busi¬ 
ness-like to charge that amount to “expe¬ 
rience.” 
In preparing for my crop of tomatoes, 
I planted several rows of seed at the 
proper time, and in about a week made 
another planting, in all sufficient to supply 
me with plants for about five acres. There 
is usually a demand for plants, I was told, 
so that I knew that if I could not use 
them; I could probably sell what I did not 
need. These all came up promptly, but 
were attacked in turn by potato bugs, an¬ 
other species of small black bugs, and 
finally by a blight, against all of which I 
waged an unequal warfare, until at last, 
when it became evident that the blight was 
j^oing to finish up all of both plantings, I Rain for three solid days followed on cutting the soja beans that 1 had been forced to call "hay." The 
(Continued OH p&gc 184) other haying, however, was attended with better luck 
