A small planting, say two or three rows, of these should be made as
early as possible in the spring, the amount planted depending on how
soon they will be followed by the main crop. These may be planted
in the furrow when the ground is plowed, but I prefer to plant the
earliest ones in furrows struck out about three inches deep, after the
ground has been thoroughly prepared, as they will come up more quickly.
The rows should be dressed with phosphate, to give them a quick
growing start, and the pieces of tuber placed about one foot apart;
the ground may be run over with a sharp spike harrow when the potatoes
are just coming through, or left a little longer and then worked with
the cultivator. The soil must be kept well worked, and as close to
the roots as it is possible to run. The bugs must be watched for and
destroyed as soon as they appear, either by dusting with Paris green
mixed with plaster, or with other insect poisons, or by picking them
off and destroying them by hand, which is the easier way when the patch
is small and potato plants are young. If these early bugs are destroyed
before they can lay their eggs, the work of protecting the summer crop
will be greatly 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 prevented by turning them frequently, but I have never had
an opportunity to try it. The first planting should be 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 qualities.