%J^' ''",<' c. '^. ■^^ x^V ^0^ \ ""^ V'<;^ ■* ^?5^ -^^0^ ,0* .0 ^^^.^ .^ ^"^ ^ ^^ < o"^ c ° " " ^ "^o - A < ^•% ^ :5:^:*' .y ^^■"-., ^"^ c « a ^ -^^ ^ij, ■<^. ^ ,^^ %.o< ^oV^ .^' .c^^^ %. '"^"V,^\ %Prv^ o « c ^ .V '^> .^ THIRD EDITION. PRICE 3O CENTS ♦ ♦♦ Potatoes FOR Profit BY ... . F. B. VAN ORNAM & .V/^V PUBLISHED BY W. ATI9EE BURPEE &r CO. PHILADELPHIA COPYRIGHT. 1895, BY W. AtlEE BurpeE & CO. POTATOES FOR PROFIT. VAN ORNAM. POTATOES FOR PROFIT BY F. B. VAN ORNAM. WITH TWENTY-SEVEN ILLUSTRATIONS. THIRD EDITION. ,0- ^,_ PUBLISHED BY W. ATLEE BURPEE & CO., PHILADELPHIA. 1896. 7171 0U6^ Copyright, 1895, by W. Atlee Burpee & Co. '^'^% ^%^^ WM. F. FELL & CO., ^LECTROTYPERS AND PRINTERS, 1220-24 SANSOM STREET, PHILADELPHIA. PUBLISHERS' PREFACE. Experience has clearly proved that we can build upon no surer foundation, both for our patrons and for ourselves, than by disseminating among planters the best thought and prac- tice of advanced farmers and horticulturists. Good books on rural topics, have, as a rule, been high- priced in America. This has been due to the fact that such works have usually been confined to small editions and have been addressed to a limited circle of readers. In a country so vast, with such diversified agricultural interests, and with the most intelligent rural population in the world, this should not be the case ; the best farm literature should be for the million as well as the few. With the rapid expansion of our seed business has grown an extraordinary demand for useful books on farm and garden topics. Indeed, it is this univer- sal spirit of inquiry that has made possible the marvelous growth of our publishing department. In no field, during recent years, has literary activity been more prolific in fruitful achievement, and in none have the labors of practical writers been welcomed with greater enthusiasm. The author of the present volume is one of the best-known VI PUBLISHERS PREFACE. potato growers of the country, and is the originator of stand- ard varieties of world-wide celebrity. Mr. Van Ornam's work has been edited in our publishing department, and chapters added on Chemical Fertilizers, Insect Enemies, and Fungous Diseases. The story of his experience as a potato grower, covering more than a third of the century, cannot fail, we believe, to interest and prove profitable to all who read his book. W. A. B. & Co. Philadelphia, January, i8gj. AUTHOR'S PREFACE. The increase in the production of the potato has by no means kept pace with the increase in population. We are to-day. the sixth nation in point of production, while the per capita consumption is much below that of many other nations. This, we believe to be partially due to the fact that prices, on a whole, have ruled higher in this country for potatoes than for many other staple articles of food. Among nations we are not only the heaviest importers, except Austria-Hungary, and the smallest exporters, — our exportations being mostly for seed, — but we are almost the smallest in per capita consumption. The following tables of production, imports, and exporta- tions, taken from the Rural New-Yorker y December i6th, 1893, ^^^ vcio^i significant : — Germany, . . France, .... Russia- Poland, . Austria Hungary, United Kingdom, United States, . Canada, .... Belgium, . . . Production. Bushels. 891,723,040 396,746,138 464,441,187 409,368,793 228,093.397 169,809,053 61,669,009 99,486,505 vii Exports. Bushels. 6,538,079 4,634,800 1,257,323 536,564 465,059 3-784,367 679,692 Imports. Bushels. 1,709-336 779,618 13,604 5,334,665 3,033,504 65,294 2,783,649 Vlll AUTHOR S PREFACE. These figures are, for the most part, the averages of six or seven years. They show that Americans are using fewer potatoes per capita than any of the other great nations. Not only do we import over 3,000,000 bushels, but of over 10,000,000 bushels imported into the United Kingdom, and by five of the great nations of the continent, we do not supply a single bushel. The Report of the Secretary of Agriculture for 1893 shows that the average yield per acre for the whole country is much below that of fifteen years ago. The estimated crop area for 1893 ^^ 2,605,186 acres, and the product 183,034,203 bushels, an average yield per acre of 70.3 bushels. Surely, in the foregoing figures there is food for reflection. Why do we not supply the home market, and wliy are our exports practically nothing in comparison with the exporta- tions of less favored nations ? The tuber is easily grown, and land that will produce a crop of clover will generally return an excellent yield of potatoes, while under high culture, the crop responds enor- mously. In a country abounding with the best potato-produc- ing lands in the world, with the most improved machinery for planting and harvesting the crop, and with the markets of the world open to our farmers, we should lead the world in the production of this enormous food supply. Yet it is quite evident that the American farmer is not making the most of his opportunities with the potato. F. B. Van Ornam. Lewis, Iowa, January, i8gs- CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. PAGES Introduction — Brief History of the Potato, 9-12 CHAPTER H. Soil and Preparation, 13-15 CHAPTER HI. Manures and Chemical Fertilizers — I. Farmyard Manure — H. Chemical Fertilizers, 16-23 CHAPTER IV. Planting — Time of Planting — Distance Apart — Depth of Planting, . 24-31 CHAPTER V. Cultivation, 32-37 CHAPTER VI. Insect Enemies — Colorado Potato Beetle — Potato or Tomato Worm — Blister Beetles — Imbricated Snout-beetle — Potato Stalk Weevil, 38-45 CHAPTER VII. Fungous Diseases — Potato Scab — Blight — Leaf Spot Disease or Early Blight — Late Blight or Downy Mildew — Bordeaux Mix- ture, . . , 46-52 CHAPTER VIII. Hars-esting, 53-57 CHAPTER IX. Storing and Marketing, 58-64 ix X CONTENTS. CHAPTER X. PAGES Propagating New Varieties — Saving the Seed — The Seedling — Growing Seed Potatoes — The Trench System 65-72 CHAPTER XI. Leading Varieties — Burpee's Extra Early — Early Six Weeks Mar- ket — Van Ornam's Earliest — Early Ohio— Early Maine — Early Puritan — Beauty of Hebron — Freeman — Extra Early Walton — Early Rose— Early Polaris — The Great Divide — Burpee's Em- pire State — Burbank's Seedling — Burpee's Superior — World's p^air — Rural New Yorker, No. 2 — White Elephant — Brownell's Winner — Extra Early Vermont, ... 73-^2 Index, 83, 84 POTATOES FOR PROFIT. CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION. The native home of the species from which our many varieties of potatoes have originated, is believed to be the high mountain region of South America, within those vast territories which once comprised the ancient Empire of Peru. *' High up on the slopes of the Cordilleras," says the his- torian of the Empire of the Incas, '^ beyond the limits of the maize and of the quanda — a grain bearing some resem- blance to rice, and largely cultivated by the Indians — was to be found the potato, the introduction of which into Europe has made an era in the history of agriculture. Whether in- digenous to Peru, or imported from the neighboring country of Chili, it formed the great staple of the more elevated plains under the Incas, and its culture was continued to a height in the equatorial regions which reached many thousand feet above the limits of perpetual snow in the temperate latitudes of Europe. Wild specimens of the vegetable might be seen still higher, springing up spontaneously amidst the stunted shrubs that clothed the lofty sides of the Cordilleras, till these gradually subsided into mosses and the short, yellow grass, pajonal, which, like a golden carpet, was unrolled around the base of the mighty cones that rose far into the regions of eternal silence, covered with the snows of centuries." Pres- cott's ''Conquest of Peru," Vol. i, page 144. 9 lO POTATOES FOR PROFIT. The early Spanish discoverers found the potato in Chili, Peru, New Granada, and all along the chain of the Andes. Humboldt, who bestowed much study on the early history of the plant, says it was unknown to the ancient Mexicans, an opinion confirmed by the concurrent testimony of many travelers and writers. It was also unknown to the aborigines in the eastern temperate regions of South America. There is a vast amount of conflicting testimony regarding the introduction of the potato into western Europe. It is be- lieved to have been brought into Spain from Quito, by Spanish adventurers, in the early part of the sixteenth century. From Spain the potato passed into Italy, and from thence was carried into Mons by some one in attendance on the papal legate in Belgium. In 1588* Phillipe de Sivry, Seigneur of Waldheim, and Governor of Mons, sent the tuber to the celebrated bota- nist, Clusius, at Vienna, who states that in a short time it spread rapidly throughout Germany. Clusius published the first good description and illustration of the potato under the name oi Papas Peruajwrum. From his description, the species seems to have changed but little under three centuries of culture. Clusius describes the flowers as more or less pink externally, and reddish within, with five longitudinal stripes of green, as is often seen at the present time. He compares the odor of the flower with that of the lime. Clusius asserts that the species had been introduced into Italy from Spain or America, and expresses surprise that, although the plant had become so common in Italy that it was eaten like a turnip and fed to the pigs, yet the learned men of Padua only became acquainted with it by means of the tuber which he sent them. It is, however, questionable if the potato was so widely culti- vated in Italy at this time as Clusius asserts, but he quotes Father Magazzini, of Vallombrosa, whose posthumous work, * Some authorities say 1598. INTRODUCTION. II published in 1623, mentions the species as one previously brought, without naming the date, from Spain or Portugal, by barefooted friars.* There can, we think, be little doubt but that the Spaniards introduced the tubers into Spain, from whence they were carried into Italy, to the Netherlands, Lorraine, Switzerland and Germany. According to MM. Vilmorin-Andrieux, the potato did not become common in the central and northern districts of France until after Parmentier's labors made known 'its true value as a source of food supply. The date of the introduction of the potato into the British Isles has been a subject of much discussion, but it is very generally believed that the first specimens grown in Britain were brought from Virginia by colonists sent out by Sir Walter Raleigh in 1584, who returned in 1586. Humboldt supposed that the cultivation of the tuber in Vir- ginia, where it was known to the early colonists, must have been originally received from the Spanish colonies at the south. De Candolle (''Origin of Cultivated Plants" ) is of the im- pression that the potato was introduced into that part of the United States now known as Virginia and the Carolinas in the early part of the sixteenth century. In his opinion the potato could scarcely have been introduced into Virginia or Carolina in Sir Walter Raleigh's time unless the ancient Mexicans had possessed it, and its cultivation had been diffused among the aborigines to the north of Mexico. I De Candolle says ("Origin of Cultivated Plants,"), " Dr. IRowlon, who carefully studied the works on North America, .has assured me that he has found no signs of the potato in the United States before the arrival of the Europeans. Dr. |A.sa Gray also told me, adding that Mr. Harris, one of the Anen most intimately acquainted with the language of the * De Candolle : " Origin of Cultivated Plants." 12 POTATOES FOR PROFIT. North American tribes, was of the same opinion. And," con- tinues De CandoUe, '* I have read nothing to the contrary in recent publications, and we must not forget that a plant so easy of cultivation would have spread itself, even among nomadic tribes, had they possessed it. It seems to me most likely that some inhabitants of Virginia, — perhaps the English colonists, — received tubers from Spanish or other travelers, traders or adventurers, during the ninety years which had elapsed since the discovery of America. Evidently, dating from the conquest of Peru and Chili in 1535 to 1585, many vessels could have carried tubers of the potato as provisions, and Sir Walter Raleigh, making war on the Spaniards as a privateer, may have pillaged some vessel which contained them. This is the less improbable, since the Spaniards had introduced the plant into Europe before 1585." Thomas Herriot, who accompanied Sir Walter Raleigh in several voyages, brought the first potatoes into Britain in 1586. They were planted on Sir Walter's estate near Cork, and were used for food in Ireland long before they were even known in England. In some French works Parmentier is credited with having introduced the potato to Europeans, but his part in the matter was simply that of an enthusiast, who rendered its cultivation more popular. In the time of James I (15 66- 1625) potatoes were so rare in England as to cost two shillings (sterling) a pound, and are mentioned in 16 19 among the supplies provided for the royal household. In 1633 their value as food had become more generally known, and they were deemed worthy of notice by the Royal Society, which encouraged their cultivation with a view to the prevention of famine; but it was not until nearly a century later that measures were taken which led to their ex- tensive culture in English husbandry. CHAPTER II. SOIL AND PREPARATION. If the land is properly prepared a great variety of soils may be used for potato growing — clay, sandy loam, or deep, black prairie loam — any well drained soil, — but it must be rich and , warm, and made mellow by thorough preparation. The ideal j soil for this crop is a friable loam, moderately dry, with good I natural or artificial drainage. Low, damp, or soggy land < will not produce a good quality of potatoes, and the crop is j more liable to be diseased. I always choose high, dry land j for this crop, and prefer a light, sandy loam or a loose clay 1 with a porous subsoil. This is of the greatest importance in I determining the quality as well as the quantity of the crop. I I have always found a porous or open subsoil the best. It , will not only thoroughly drain the upper soil during and after a wet spell, but the land will the better withstand a long con- tinued drought, supplying soil moisture from below at a time when the crop most needs it. This has never been more I fully exemplified than during the past few excessively hot and dry seasons in Iowa. Do not undertake to raise potatoes on heavy soil unless it has first been underdrained. Fortunately this is often feasible. Too much care cannot be taken in the preparation of the soil. I believe that fully one-half of the crop is often sacrificed by careless preparation of the land. Even the best farmers, when over-rushed with work at planting time, are tempted to slight [the work with the hope of making up for the neglect in after cultivation. This, however, can never be done. After the 13 14 POTATOES FOR PROFIT. land is once planted it can never be stirred directly under the hills, where there is the most need of perfect tilth. The land should be deeply plowed, care being taken that there are no breaks in the plowing. No wider furrow than the plow is made to cut should be made, and it is best not to put the plow to its full capacity if thorough work is wanted. After the land has been broken it should be thoroughly pul- SOIL AND PREPARATION. 1 5 verized, either with a disk harrow, a cutaway or some other good tool. In my own work I have never found a tool that will do this work so well as the Acme Pulverizing Harrow. With this implement no other harrow is needed in preparing the soil for a crop. It crushes the clods, cuts, turns and pul- verizes the soil, smoothing the surface and leaving the trash buried where left by the plow. But whatever tool may be used, go over and over the land. It cannot be made too fine, and the extra work will be amply compensated for, and will show in the after culture and increase of crop. CHAPTER III. MANURES AND CHEMICAL FERTILIZERS. 1.— MANURES. I have had but little experience with chemical fertilizers, simply because I have lived and farmed. for thirty-five years in fertile Iowa. We have had new land at hand in generous sup- ply for our potato crop, or could bring back our soil to almost, if not quite, its original fertility by simply seeding down to clover, and with the use of farmyard manure, which could be had for the hauling. A good plan is to compost the accumu- lated stable manure of the previous season with such refuse materials as may be at hand, and at our convenience in the fall to spread it on the clover sod. It should be evenly dis- tributed over the surface to be plowed under the next spring. It does not pay to put manure in the hill or drill in large field culture. Fresh manure made during the winter and spring should not be used. In my experience the rotted manure of a previous season is always the best. The day is near at hand when I think it will pay every potato grower to use chemical manures. The chief drawback with the western cultivator heretofore has been the distance these fertilizers have had to be shipped, as most of those of acknowledged merit were manufactured in the East. Again, the markets of the West for potatoes have not been so stable as those of the East ; the price has often fluctuated so greatly as to change the result from profit to one' of actual loss; the grower could not figure with any degree of certainty what he i6 MANURES AND CHEMICAL FERTILIZERS. 1 7 could afford to j^ay for fertilizers, even though he knew just what increase of crop to credit to their use. But these conditions are rapidly changing. Increased railway and water transportation facilities each year bring us in closer competition with our eastern brothers, while fertilizer factories are springing into existence in many of our larger western cities. Vast quantities of crude materials which were formerly shipped to the East to be made up into fertilizers are now being utilized at home. Every year our lands are growing older and less able to stand the drain upon their fertility. Farmers who have been burn- I ing their straw and allowing the stable manure to be washed down our rivers and creeks, are learning, to their sorrow, the I folly of so wasteful and improvident a system of farming. II.— CHEMICAL FERTILIZERS. 1 An average crop of potatoes removes from the soil of one acre about 119 pounds of nitrogen, 55 pounds of phosphoric ; acid, and 192 pounds of potash. If we formulate a fertilizer I on this basis, which is that indicated by analysis of the plant, — I roots, stalks, leaves, stems and tubers, — the ratio of fertilizing constituents would be about two parts of nitrogen to one part I of phosphoric acid to three parts of potash. But experience j in the field, especially with soils that have been long under cultivation, indicates that a well balanced potato fertilizer should contain a slight excess of nitrogen, phosphoric acid, and potash, over these quantities. Theoretically, a complete potato fertilizer should contain, in soluble forms, about six per cent, of nitrogen, three per cent. of phosphoric acid, and ten per cent, of potash. But gen- \ erally in practice six per cent, of nitrogen, five to six per cent. of phosphoric acid, and from eight to ten per cent, of potash, will provide a better balanced mixture. 1 8 POTATOES FOR PROFIT. Now how shall we get this mixture in the best forms of raw materials and at the lowest cost to the farmer? Experience has taught us that the potato, like many other plants, seems to thrive best on particular forms of food, even under the most favorable conditions of soil and season. Thus we find nitro- gen in the forms of nitrate of soda and dried blood especially favorable to its growth ; phosphoric acid in dissolved bone- black, and potash as high-grade sulphate and wood ashes seem better forms of the latter than kainit or muriate of potash. Let us decide to have a special, high-grade, complete fer- tihzer containing six per cent, of nitrogen, five per cent, of available phosphoric acid, and ten per cent, of potash. Now, it is obvious that the number of pounds of nitrogen, phos- phoric acid, and potash contained in one ton (2000 pounds) of fertilizer is to be ascertained by multiplying one ton (2000 pounds) by the percentage of each fertilizing constituent ; thus : 2000 pounds X -06 = 120.00 pounds of nitrogen, 2000 " X -05 = 100.00 " '* phosphoric acid, 2000 '* X -10 = 200.00 " " potash. In selecting our nitrogen we should like to have it in the three forms of nitric acid, ammonia, and organic nitrogen. The cheapest source of the first of these forms is the familiar nitrate of soda of commerce. Sulphate of ammonia furnishes a highly concentrated ammonium salt for the second form ; this salt is very largely used in the manufacture of chemical manures. It resembles common salt in appearance, and is not so liable to form hard lumps as is the case with nitrate of soda. Organic nitrogen maybe had in many animal and vegetable waste products. Some forms of organic nitrogen, like dried blood, meat and fish scrap, tankage, cotton seed meal, or castor pomace, are very active and valuable fertilizers, while others, like horn, hoof, hair, and leather, are so slow in their MANURES AND CHEMICAL FERTILIZERS. I9 action as to be practically inert when used for quick-growing crops. In a well-prepared fertilizer it is desirable to have nitrogen in these three forms, that is as 7iitric, ammoniac, and organic nitrogen, or if one of these is inadmissible because of scarcity or high price, then two of the forms should be selected. Sul- phate of ammonia sometimes gets so high that its use is not warranted in agriculture; farmers can buy nitrogen much cheaper in other forms which we regard as fully equal to am- monia salts. "What," we may ask, ''does the market afford as an economical source of nitrogen for the potato crop? " At all times there is an abundance of such materials, and a little intelligent inquiry is all that is necessary to bring them to light. Dried blood and meat scrap contain from lo to 11.50 per cent, of nitrogen. Dried fish scrap seven to eight per cent., castor pomace five per cent., and cotton seed meal over six per cent, of nitrogen. Nitrogen in fine ground, dried meat, dried blood and fish, we believe to be of equal value with ammoniac nitrogen. Sir J. B. Lawes and Professor S. W. Johnson place a higher value I on nitric nitrogen than on the nitrogen of ammonia, and we I believe this will be the final decision of chemists. ' We know that nitrate of soda and dried blood are both I excellent sources of nitrogen for our crop, and we decide to take our 120 pounds of nitrogen in equal parts from these I two sources of supply. Commercial nitrate of soda (96 per cent.) contains 15.81 per cent, of nitrogen, and dried blood 1 contains about 10.50 per cent, of nitrogen. We will take this element in about equal proportions from both materials; therefore, to obtain 60 pounds of nitrogen from each of these 'sources it will take as many hundred pounds of nitrate of soda as 15.81 is contained in 60, and as many hundred pounds of 20 POTATOES FOR PROFIT. dried blood as 10.50 is contained in 60. Hence we have — 60 -=- O.1581 = 379 pounds nitrate soda, 60 -=- 0.1050 = 570 " dried blood. We will take the phosphoric acid from dissolved bone-black, which contains about 17 percent, of available phosphoric acid. To obtain the 100 pounds of phosphoric acid we require — 100 -T- o. 17 =r 588 pounds. The most desirable of the Stassfurt potash salts for potatoes is the high-grade sulphate. We will take our 200 pounds of potash from 90 per cent, sulphate which contains 48.60 per cent, of actual potash. 200 -=- 0.4860 =: 411 pounds. Now we have the required quantities for our mixture which stands thus : — Nitrate soda, 379 pounds Dried blood, 570 " Dissolved bone-black, 588 " Sulphate potash (90 per cent.), 41 1 " Total, . , 1948 " But the aggregate number of pounds falls short of one ton (2000 pounds). We may make up this deficiency by adding 52 pounds of sand, land plaster, or other materials, or we may slightly increase the quantities without materially altering the ratios of fertilizing constituents. Suppose we take — Nitrate soda 380 pounds * Dried blood, 575 <' Dissolved bone-black, 625 " Sulphate potash, (90 per cent.), 420 " Total, 2000 *♦ MANURES AND CHEMICAL FERTILIZERS. Now let us tabulate results : — 21 Materials. z w as H Phosphoric Acid. i 1 Avail- able. Insol- uble. Total. < 380 575 625 420 Nitrate Soda, Dried Blood, Dissolved Bone-black Sulphale Potash (90 per cent.), Total quantities in one ton, . lbs. 60.07 60.37 lbs. 104.37 lbs. lbs. 10.98 106.24 lbs. 204.12 2000 120.44 6.00 104.37 5-21 1. 87 0.09 117.22 5.86 204.12 The approximate cost of these materials in such trade centers as New York and Philadelphia can be made by allow- ing 14)^ cents per pound for nitrogen in nitrate of soda, i8}^ cents per pound for nitrogen in dried blood, six cents per pound for available, and two cents per pound for insoluble phosphoric acid, and five cents per pound for potash in 90 per cent, sulphate. Thus we have — 60.07 pounds nitrogen from nitrate of soda at 1^% = ^ 8.71 60.37 " " " dried blood at 18 J/^ = II. 16 104.37 " available phosphoric acid at .06 = 6.26 12.85 " insoluble' " *' at .02 = .26 204.12 " potash from 90 percent, sulphate at .05 1= 10.20 '^36. 59 To this should be added the cost of freight and mixing. In I the foregoing formula we have the nitrogen in nitric acid and organic nitrogen. In our next formula, which the writer has ' used with uniform success for potatoes, we have the nitrogen in the three forms of nitric acid, ammonia, and organic nitrogen. Nitrate of soda, 260 pounds . Sulphate of ammonia, 200 Dried blood, 380 '^^' Dissolved bone-black, .... 3°*^ Dissolved S. C. rock, 420 " Muriate of potash (80 per cent.) Sulphateof potash (80 per cent.), 200 240 2000 pounds 22 POTATOES FOR PROFIT. Now let us examine this mixture and see wherein it is especially adapted to potatoes. i Materials. Phosphoric Acid. i z D O Oh Avail- able. Insol- uble. Total. < 260 200 420 200 240 Nitrate Soda Sulphate Ammonia, Dried Blood lbs. 41.10 41.00 39-90 . . . . . . 50.10 50.50 lbs. 7-25 90 1344 lbs. 7.25 5. .00 63.94 lbs. Dissolved Bone-black, .... Dissolved S. C. Rock Muriate Potash (So per cent.), Sulphate Potash (80 per cent.), Total quantities in one ton, . 101.04 103.60 2000 122.00 6.10 100.60 5-03 21.59 1.07 122.19 6 10 204.64 10.23 We perceive the formula contains nitric, ammoniac, and organic nitrogen in nearly equal proportions taken from three sources of supply. Our available phosphoric acid is evenly divided between dissolved bone-black and dissolved South Carolina rock; in addition to this we have 1.07 per cent, of insoluble phosphoric acid, making the total phosphoric acid 6.10 per cent., and the potash is divided between 80 per cent, muriate and 80 per cent, sulphate. OTHER FERTILIZERS FOR POTATOES. 1. Nitrate soda, 400 pounds. Sulphate ammonia, 300 " Dissolved bone-black 600 " Sulphate potash (80 per cent.), .... 480 " Land plaster, sand, or loam, 220 " Contains 6.22 per cent, nitrogen, 5.01 per cent, available phosphoric acid, and 10.36 per cent, potash. On clover sod plowed under. 2. Nitrate soda, 300 pounds. Dissolved S. C. rock, 1220 ** Sulphate potash, (80 per cent.), . . . 480 " 2000 " MANURES AND CHEMICAL FERTILIZERS. 23 This mixture contains 2.37 per cent, of nitrogen, 7.32 per cent, available phosphoric acid, and 10.36 per cent, of potash. 3. Farmyard manure, lo tons. Nitrate of soda, loo pounds. Sulphate of ammonia, .... . 100 " Dissolved S. C. rock, 600 " Muriate of potash, 200 " CHAPTER IV. PLANTING. The selection of seed is one of the most important steps in growing a crop of potatoes. I always prefer medium-sized tubers for seed. Very large potatoes are liable to produce a coarse, rough crop, while, on the other hand, small seed maybe immature, and with it there is a tendency to deterioration. Always select as near as possible perfectly formed potatoes, free from disease. In cutting the tubers, care should be taken to divide the eyes evenly and to bruise the seed as little as possible. In case of scarcity, new, rare, or high-priced varieties, I always cut by hand, using a concave- curved knife with a very thin blade (Fig. 2) ; then take the tuber in 0~k V'^'^'/ ..^!^-l^/^^=^ ^^^^ ^^^^ hand, begin at the bottom '*^ "' ^^^^ or stem end and cut toward the ^^ center and down in the direction of the stem, following the growth of the germ, and taking but a single eye. The tuber is then turned half way around, or to the opposite side, and the process repeated until the seed or blow end is reached, leaving to each eye enough of the tuber to sustain the plant until well rooted in the soil. In oidinary field culture, where I have plenty of seed, the Aspinwall Potato Cutter is used with complete success. This implement not only divides the eyes more evenly, but 24 PLANTING. 25 leaves them in better shape for planting than the average hired help, and performs the work as fast as six or eight men can do it by hand. The only attention necessary is to be sure to place the seed end toward the person manipulating the machine. I have always had a perfect stand from seed cut in this way if properly planted. After thirty-five years* experi- ence in potato culture, and after having tried almost every con- ceivable experiment, both wise and otherwise, in seed selection and planting ; having planted all the way from a single eye up to a whole potato: after having planted in hills and in drills and at various distances ; after keep- ing minute records of successes -^y Fig. Fig. 4. Aspinwall Potato Cutter. ■and failures, I am fully convinced that the average grower jplants too much seed. I have almost invariably met with the largest share of success from the lightest plantings, not only in jthe weight of crop, but in the greater yield of marketable tubers as compared with the whole crop. Were it always possible without too much outlay of labor, I would invariably confine jplanting to a single eye to the hill ; but when large areas are lanted and the planter must be used, a two- or three-eyed 26 POTATOES FOR PROFIT. piece is best, since it insures a full stand with greater cer- tainty. Time of Planting. — This depends upon the variety and purpose for which the crop is planted. If for early market, we should choose the earliest and hardiest varieties, which should be planted in spring as soon as the land can be got into good condition. Planting should be somewhat shallow, so as to avoid rot in case of a cold, wet spell, and to afford ample time for growth before the hot, dry weather of summer. Potatoes delight in cool, moist weather. If the crop is for seed alone, and is to be stored over winter, some varieties yield and keep better if planted later, so as to ripen during cool autumn weather, thus avoiding much shrink- age consequent upon lying in the ground during the dry hot time between ripening and storing crop. For the later or main crop I prefer putting off planting until about June ist, as by doing so the work of fighting destructive insects is greatly lessened. With the pulverizer or harrow the larvoe of trouble- some insects are so much more readily killed ; with the larger tools of culture often ten or twenty acres being gone over in a day. Here in Iowa potatoes planted from the first to fif- teenth of June make almost their entire growth of tubers dur- ing the cool, moist weather of fall, and are ready for harvesting almost as soon as growth is completed, thus insuring a larger and better crop of finer flavored potatoes with the least possible loss from shrinkage; and as they then make a more rapid and rugged growth are less liable to disease. Distance Apart. — For the past fifteen years I have ac- cepted three feet as the proper distance between rows. This gives ample space for the growth of tubers and for proper tillage, and leaves plenty of soil for hilling without running too deeply, thereby avoiding injury to the roots by cultivation. With the latest improved tools, especially the Planet Jr. implements, the entire surface of the soil can be worked by PLANTING. 27 a single passage between rows, thus making one horse do the work usually done by two. There is ample space to destroy weeds should the crop from any cause become foul, and the rows are also near enough to each other to enable most varie- ties to cover and shade the ground during the later stages of growth. This distance is also about right for machine digging, allow- ing each wheel of the digger to run in the furrow made in hilling. For over twenty years I have planted no other way than by drilling. I believe this mode gives each individual eye a better chance for growth. Regarding the distance apart the seed is placed much depends upon the habit of growth of the variety to be planted; if small and compact in growth, like the Early Six Weeks, Early Rose, Ohio Junior, or Puritan, much less room is required 'than with the spreading varieties. With the earlier varieties, 1 12 to 15 inches apart will be found about right, and with imost varieties, such as Burpee's Extra Early or Beauty of Hebron, the latter distance will be found none too much. ; For late varieties 15 to 18 inches, and sometimes 20 inches japart should be allowed. The quality and condition of the Isoil should also be taken into consideration ; a rich mellow jsoil free from weeds will, of course, be the best, and admit, jOther things being equal, of closer planting. j Depth of Planting. — This must also be gauged somewhat |by the variety, time of planting, and habits of growth. Early varieties should be planted shallow. Early in the spring the jground is warmer near the surface, and the seed will be less liable to rot and will germinate more quickly. Most of the growth must be made during the cool, early spring months, 'J^efore hot, dry summer weather comes. I have found a depth of about two inches right for early varieties, while with later bnes, which must be kept thrifty during the long hot and dry ipells of summer, a depth of from four to five inches is best. 28 POTATOES FOR PROFIT. Planting, since the advent of the Aspinwall Potato Planter, has changed from drudgery to pleasure. Now instead of two men and a team working hard all day to plant one or two acres, one has but to adjust his pickers so as to drop at the proper distance, fill the hopper with seed and proceed with PLANTING. 20 the planting, easily going over from four to eight acres a day, making straighter rows than could be done in the old way, and dropping the seed at a uniform depth and distance apart. One great advantage over hand-planting is that the planter opens the furrow, drops the seed into fresh earth and imme- diately covers it without exposing seed or furrow to wind and sun. The only fault one can find with the Aspinwall Planter is that the seed-pieces have to be cut somewhat larger than for hand-planting ; but as a two- or three-eye piece is thus dropped, this is a trifling loss except where seed is very scarce and high, as is the case with the newer varieties. In |such cases I take off the guard in front of the pickers, which •are removed, place a tube from the shoe to the level with the seat, fasten a box for seed in front, and then put on a boy to idrive, placing a temporary seat over the hopper. But one can drop through the tube by hand, the machine opening the 'furrow and covering the seed the same as when doing its own ^dropping. We are often asked the question, '' Can you raise as large trops when put in with the planter as when planted by hand?" pur answer is, *' Yes, only it takes a trifle more seed." . Many potato growers take an old corn planter, remove the jbox that holds the corn, and insert in its place tubes, either bf wood or tin, somewhat enlarged at the top, and large (enough to let the seed pass down easily. \ Two lively boys are placed on a seat where the corn dropper brmerly sat and, with their backs to each other, drop the seed venly. The small grower cannot always hire a planter, and his .creage will not warrant the purchase of such a machine. If he old way of planting is not the easiest, it is at leastsafe, and i often think the best in many respects, especially vv'here we |vish to improve old or develop new varieties. In such cases, in all the operations of the farm, good tools are needed, for 3° POTATOES FOR PROFIT. while a common plow will do if nothing better is at hand,} yet a Planet Jr. Fur- rower, Marker, Kil- ler, and Ridger com^* bined, as shown in, Fig. 6 for marking out, and as in Fig. 7 for covering, will Planet Jr. Furrovvi be found very con- venient. This new tool is shown in the illustrations. The wings are adjustable from nearly perpendicular to nearly hori- zontal, or they may be removed entirely. The tool with lever runners moves steadily and is easily managed. The runners are adjustable both for depth and width. The marker is light and handy ; it makes a wide, clear mark either on hard, dry ground or on new plowed land. For covering and ridg- ing, the adjustable wing plows, shown in the cut (Fig. 7), or the ordinary side hoes are used. It is a capital hiller, and by taking off all the wings it hills less and works to fine advantage as a double plow. It has always seemed strange to me that the harrow is so little used by the average farmer in the early cultivation of growing crops, especially before the crop breaks through the ground. It is the exception rather than the rule to see the land touched with any tool for killing weeds until the crop is Fig. 7.— Covercr and Ridger. PLANTING. -J several inches high. I have always found that the very best time to kill weeds is when they are young, in fact, before they get above the ground. Many a farmer waits until weeds have made considerable root growth, indeed, often approaching a sod, before starting the cultivator, and then he only kills one row at a time, while with a good team and light harrow he could have gone over from four to six times as much land. CHAPTER V. CULTIVATION. In a few days after planting we start cultivation, using a large twelve- foot lever harrow, setting the teeth but a trifle slanting at first, and give the ground a thorough harrowing. After a few days, simply waiting to let the weed seeds germi- nate, we go over with the harrow again, giving the teeth more slant so as to run shallow and not to break off the tender sprouts that may be coming up. We often give three harrowings before the potatoes are j fairly up, and as soon as they are two or three inches high go over the field again, keeping the harrow teeth perfectly clean and free from trash. Should the ground be inclined to bake, or if the weeds begin to grow, turn round and cross the field, and do not give up the work until the ground is perfectly level and the soil very fine. Don't be afraid of harrowing too much if you have a good harrow. There are many har- rows now on the market, but a good lever harrow is so far superior to the old standing-tooth or smoothing harrow that we would have no other. The teeth of the smoothing harrow do not always need to be set at the same slant ; where there is nothing to interfere we set the teeth pretty straight, and in that way can root up more weeds, but where there is anything in the w^ay, in the shape of trash, we give the teeth more slant so as not to injure the young vines or to disturb the roots un- duly in going over the field. The condition of the soil must guide us in finding the proper slant of the teeth. If the object is to smooth and pulverize, set the teeth very slanting. 32 CULTIVATION. 33 In our work we have found the lever harrow represented in Fig. 8 about the best shape for use and wear, and at the same time it is durable and light. If there are no stalks or other trash to interfere, I begin cultivation with a Planet Jr. Twelve-tooth Cultivator with Pulverizer (Fig. 9). The blades of this implement are an inch wide, and are of such shape as to work in the most thoroughly satisfactory manner, and to offer an unusual amount of wearing surface. The recurved throat of the tooth and the hich frame prevent clogging. The re- verse position is quickly given to the teeth by changing a single bolt in each ; the frame is heavy and strong. I set this implement wide so as to run as near as possible to the rows, and follow the cultivator with an Improved Zephaniah Breed Weeder (Fig. 10), using the eight- foot size, which with the horse walking between rows takes two rows at once. This thoroughly loosens the ground around the hills, turning and rooting out all young grass and weeds that may have ptarted. Three or four cultiva- dons, always followed with the j-veeder, will keep the ground perfectly clean and very loose and mellow around the hills. This culture encour- 34 POTATOES FOR PROFIT. ages a rapid growth, entirely dispensing with the use of the hoe. If at any time the ground becomes foul or hard, I take a Planet Jr. Horse Hoe (Fig. II), using first 2^ -inch shov- els for front and outside rear stand- ard, and three-inch shovels on central rtar standard. Set the wheel, which is easily adjusted by a lever, so as to run only deep enough to thoroughly break up the crust, loosening the soil and turning up the weeds. By holding the tool perfectly level so that all the shovels take the same depth, the rear shovels, if set at proper width, -^■s^S^^^i^^; Fig. 9.— Planet Jr. Twelve-tooth Harrow, Cultivator, and Pulverizer. '^^ll^^^^i^i Fig, 10. — Improved Zephaniah Breed Weeder. will throw considerable dirt into the potato row; following with the weeder, that all weeds in the row may be killed and ground loosened around the haulms. I always try to give my potatoes, whether weedy or not, at least four cultiva- I CULTIVATION. 35 tions and at least three with the weeder, but always work the crop as shallow as is possible consistent with thorough pul- \ verization of the soil and with the complete destruction of ' weeds. If this work is done properly the ground must be in good condition, and the tops covering the ground in the rows 36 POTATOES FOR PROFIT. will extend well out toward the center of the intervening space between the rows. I now change my tactics by taking off the three rear steels of my horse hoe and putting on in their place two hillers, turning the standards so as to throw the dirt toward the row ; CULTIVATION. 37 now place an eight-inch shovel on the rear standard and you have the tool set for hilling (Fig. 12). You will notice that the outside steels or hillers run very shallow on the outside near the row, scarcely half an inch deep, the inside ones only from i}{ to two inches deep, while the central shovel at the rear follows at a trifle greater depth, thus moving the dirt from the center of the row toward the potatoes, and slightly lifting the earth places it around the haulms without bruising or covering any of the leaves. If the work is properly done you now have a perfectly clear field with a broad, low hill, which has been made without disturbing the roots, enabling the tubers to make a sturdy, rapid growth without check. The drier the season and the shallower the cultivation the oftener should the soil be stirred. Do not let the ground get hard or give the weeds a chance, but keep the earth loose and mellow. No crop responds more readily to timely, well-directed labor than the potato, and none suffers more from neglect. CHAPTER VI. INSECT ENEMIES. The chief insect depredator with which the potato grower has to contend is the familiar Colorado Potato Beetle {^Dory- phora deceinlineata). There are, however, several other insects, which at times and in some parts of the United States prove quite destructive to potatoes. Among these are the Potato or Tomato Worm, several species of Blister-Beetles, the Potato Stalk- Weevil, and the Imbricated Snout-Beetle. The Colorado Potato Beetle i^Doryphora decemlincata). — This insect needs no description here. The eggs, which are from a light yellow to deep orange color, are laid in varying numbers from 12 to 50, on the under side of the potato leaf, where they hatch in about one week into sluggish larvae which feed upon the leaves. Paris green and London purple are used almost universally for combating this pest. These poisons may be applied in liquid suspension, or in powder diluted, one part of poison to 50 parts by weight of flour, sifted road dust, ashes, or with 100 parts of land plaster. The poison may be dusted over the foliage with a powder gun or perforated can, or in suspension may be applied with a hand- or horse-power spraying machine. In gardens or small patches the ordinary watering pot with a fine rose or a knapsack sprayer will prove efficient. One of the most recent inventions is the Leggitt Dry Powder Gun, which seems to do the work of distribution fast and well over all parts of the plant. Many claim that a fast walking man can apply the powder to an acre in one hour without INSECT ENEMIES. 39 undue exertion, and at the same lime, it is claimed, the work is better done than with sifting or spraying appliances. A new and important discovery announced during the pres- ent year is the use of arsenate of lead as an insecticide. The advantages of this poison over Paris green and London purple were first made known by Mr. F. C. Moulton, of the Massa- chusetts Gipsy Moth Commission. This insecticide promises to be especially useful in treating the foliage of the potato as Fig. 13.— Colorado Potato-Beetle, a, a. Eggs, b, b. Larvae, c. Pupa. d, d. Beetles, e. Wing of beetle, magnified. {Riley.) well as that of more tender plants, since it lacks the caustic action of Paris green and London purple. The preparation was made by dissolving 11 ounces of acetate of lead and four ounces of arsenate of soda in 150 gal- ilons of water. ' These substances quickly dissolve and one of the chemical compounds formed is arsenate of lead, which is a fine, white (powder, lighter than Paris green and fully as effective in 40 POTATOES FOR PROFIT. destroying insect life. But it is preferable to Paris green for other reasons ; if by any means the mixture happens to be used stronger than is necessary, even though three or four times the strength required to kill insects, it does not injure the foliage of plants. Frequently in using Paris green on potatoes much injury results from the poison burning the foliage. The liability of using too much, or of the poison not being well held in suspension, is one great objection to the use of Paris green. Arsenate of lead is a much lighter poison and does not settle so readily, and consequently can be distributed more evenly over foliage ; with it this danger is practically reduced to nothing. Professor C. H. Fernald, of the Hatch (Mass.) Experiment Station, advises that two quarts of glucose, or if it cannot be obtained, then two quarts of cheap molasses be added to each 150 gallons of water used. He says of experiments in 1893 : " This insecticide will remain upon foliage for a long time, even after heavy rains." Acetate of lead and arsenate of soda are both poisons, and in handling them the same caution should be exercised as is taken with Paris green and other arsenical compounds. The Potato or Tomato Worm {Phlegethontius celeus). — The parent of this pest is a beautiful sphinx moth nearly re- lated to the Carolina Tobacco Sphinx {Phlegethoniius Caro- lina). This insect is of northern distribution, and is perhaps" more destructive to the tomato than the potato. It is the tobacco worm of northern latitudes, and was formerly con- founded with its southern relative, FhlegethoJitius Carolina. Both moths have orange-colored spots on the sides of the abdomen, but in the wing markings there are perceptible dif- ferences. In the present species the general color of the body and wings in the adult is grayish, marked by stripes and dots in graduated shades of grayish brown, with a faint white spot near the center of each front wing. INSECT ExVEMIES. 41 42 POTATOES FOR PROFIT. The moths fly about dusk, lapping up the nectar of flowers through their long, slender sucking tubes or tongues. The adults appear early in the summer, and the females lay their eggs in the evening on the leaves of the potato and tomato. The worm or caterpillar is a voracious feeder and soon makes its presence known by stripping the stems of foliage and by the abundant castings on the ground below. The caterpillars grow rapidly and in a few weeks are about three inches long and of the thickness of a man's little finger. Their color is light green or brown, with oblique, whitish stripes on the sides of the body. When full grown, which, in the Northern States, is early in September, the caterpillars re- hire to the earth, where they make oval cells some distance below the surface and transform to pupae, in which condition they remain until the following summer, when they come forth as moths. The caterpillar is subject to the attacks of a small parasitic, four-winged, black fly, which deposits its eggs within the worm. These eggs hatch into little maggots which feed upon the juices of the body, developing at the expense of the worm. Caterpillars infested by this parasite may be readily known by their emaciated appearance and the little, egg-shaped cocoons of white silk which the larvae spin upon the back of their hosts and in which the pupal period of the parasite is passed. Such caterpillars should never be destroyed, for, although they linger for some time, they will do but little harm and will never complete their transformations. The little flies will soon emerge and continue the work of destroying the noxious species. Remedies. — In potato fields, one of the best ways of killing the moths is to take shingles or old pieces of tin and nail them to strips of wood, which are driven into the ground as supports. The pieces of tin or shingles should be supported from one to two feet from the surface, and smeared with INSECT ENEMIES. 43 molasses mixed with a little poisoned water to which some whisky or malt liquor has been added. The damages done by the potato or tomato worm are by no means so formidable as formerly. The universal use of poison on the foliage in com- bating the Colorado beetle has not been without effect in reducing the depredations of this and other leaf-eating insects. Blister- Beetles {Meloidce). — Several species of beetles belonging to the same family as the Spanish fly of commerce attack the potato. Among these are the St7'iped Blister- Bectle, the Ash-gray Blister-Beetle, the Black-i-at Blister- Beetle, the Black Bllste}-- Beetle, the Margined Blister-Beetle, the White Blister-Beetle, and the Spotted Blister-Beetle. p'iG. 15. — Striped Blister-Beetle. (Riley.) Fig. 16.— Gray {a) and Black-Rat {b) Blister-Beetles, with the Antennae Enlarged. {Riley.) The Striped Blister-Beetle {^Epicauta vittata). — It is in the adult stage that this insect feeds upon the leaves of the potato and occasionally on the foliage of the tomato. It has a slender body, marked on the wing cases with black stripes alternating with slender lines of yellowish brown. The eggs are laid in masses in the ground near the surface ; the larvse hatch in about ten days, and at once begin to burrow through the soil in search of the eggs of grasshoppers, upon which they feed. Dr. Riley says this species prefers most other kinds of potato tops to the Peach Blow. The Ash-Gray Blister-Beetle {^Lytta cinerea).—Dr. 44 POTATOES FOR PROFIT. Riley says of this insect: "It attacks not only the potato vine, but also the honey locust, and especially the English Windsor bean, and I have also found it quite abundant on early snap beans. It is very injurious to lucerne, also attacks the foliage of the apple tree, and likewise gnaws into the young fruit." It is of a uniform ash-gray color, and is the species commonly found in the more northern parts of the Northern States, where it takes the place of the striped species. The Black- Rat Blister-Beetle {Lytta murina')\ the Black Blister-Beetle {Lytta alraia) ; the ^Margined Blister- Beetle {Lyffa marginata) ; the White Blister-Beetle {Lytta alhida) ; and the Spotted Blister-Beetle {Lyffa inaciilatd), all at times prove destructive to the potato. Roncdics. — These insects are not readily destroyed by Paris green, and it is questionable if insects so destructive to more injurious species should be molested unless their presence seriously threatens a crop. ''In the extensive beet fields of the West," says Dr. Riley, "it is the custom, when these insects are abundant, to send men or boys through the field, working with the wind, and driving the beetles before them by short flights. On the leeward side of the field, windrows of hay or straw have been previously placed, and into these the beetles are driven and then burned." The Imbricated Snout Beetle {^EpiccB- rus iinbricatiis). — A small silvery- white beetle with distinct markings on the back. This Fig. 17.— imbri- species fccds on the stems and foliage of many tie.^ {Cmnstock') vegetables, including potatoes, beets, radishes, onions, beans, and corn. It also attacks the fruit and foliage of the apple, cherry, and gooseberry. When alarmed the beetles feign death. Remedies. — The usual treatment for the Colorado Potato INSECT ENEMIES. .- 45 Beetle, either in powder or liquid suspension, will be found fully efficient in destroying this pest. The Potato-Stalk Weevil {^Trichobaris trinotata).—li is in the larval stage that this insect is often most destructive to potatoes. According to Professor Gillette, 75 per cent, of the crop in 1890 was infested by this insect in Iowa. The parent is a small snout-beetle of wide geographical dis- tribution throughout the United States. The female places a single ^gg in a slit about an eighth of an inch long, made in a stalk near the ground. The eggs soon hatch into small, yellowish-white or whitish grubs, that tunnel into the heart of the stalks, burrowing i downward toward the roots and causing plants to wither and ;the premature death of the vines. , When fully grown the grubs are a little over one-fourth of ian inch long, yellowish-white in color, legless, and the heads I have a scaly appearance. I In a few weeks the grubs pupate within the stalk below the (surface of the soil, and emerge as ash-gray or bluish beetles ilate in summer or early in autumn. . Remedies. — Poisons are of little avail against the Potato- ptalk Weevil. Whenever the presence of the larvse is indi- jCated by the wilting and dying of the vines, they should be pulled up and burned. Even after harvesting the late crop the vines should be burned if the insect has been at work in |the field. CHAPTER VII. FUNGOUS DjSEASES. Potato Scab {Oospof-a scabies). — This disease has been attributed to many causes, such as mechanical irritation, attacks of insects, excessive moisture, chemical erosion, etc. ; but the careful researches of Dr. Thaxter and Professor Bolley seem to have settled conclusively the fact that the disease is directly due to the development of fungi upon the tuber. The patches of thick, brown, cork-like scabs are produced by the efforts of the tuber to heal the wound produced by the disease. The fungus is identical with that which produces ^(fi possible that barnyard manure may become contaminated from refuse matter containing the disease, and thus become a source of infection." And Dr. Thaxter says: ''The practice of feeding scabby tubers to stock is one of the most important means by which the disease is spread on farms. In view of the well-known fact that great numbers of fungous spores can and do pass through the digestive tract without injury, and that the scab fungus is known to grow luxuriantly in decoctions of horse or cow dung, it is not unreasonable to assume that its spores, passing through the digestive tracts of stock fed with diseased potatoes, ^continue their development after evacuation." j For the purpose of investigating the comparative merits of [fungicides in treating this disease, the New York Experiment Station (Bull. 49, January, 1893) made trials with the follow- ling preparations : — , {a) Copper sulphate (blue stone or blue vitriol). (^) Iron sulphate (copperas). ' (c) Zinc sulphate (white vitriol). (d) Eau celeste. I (^^/w^;^/. —There can be no doubt of the efficiency of I Bordeaux mixture as a preventive of these diseases and pos- : sibly of others of bacterial origin. Bordeaux mixture should ' be used even though there be not the slightest appearance of . blight. ; The Colorado potato beetle must be fought with poison, and , by combining the insecticide with Bordeaux mixture the cost I of the fungicide is reduced to the mere cost of materials and I mixing. The use of the combined insecticide and fungicide should begin at the first appearance of the potato beetle, and \ at least four sprayings should be made during the season of I growth. I For the first two sprayings the New York Station (Bull. 49, * 1893), recommends that the Bordeaux mixture be reduced to ,^ one-half the standard strength, and that the last two applica- j tions be of full strength. On the other hand, the U. S. 'I Department of Agriculture obtained as good results with I Bordeaux mixture of half strength as with that of full strength. The New York Station estimated the cost of four sprayings I at ^6.50 per acre. This estimate was based on labor at $1.35 j per day, the use of about 90 gallons of mixture to the acre, || applied with a knapsack sprayer and Vermorel nozzle, and jthe treatment of two acres a day by one man. The increase in crop resulting from spraying was 40 bushels. The Rhode Island Station (Third Annual Report) increased the yield 48 per cent., and the Vermont Station (Bull. 24), in 1890, saved 79 bushels per acre over the unsprayed plots. The cost of spraying is variously estimated by others at from ^5.00 to ;^io.oo per acre, but all experimenters are agreed that the 50 POTATOES FOR PROFIT. increase in cost due to the use of an insecticide combined with Bordeaux mixture is more than amply repaid in the yield of the crop ; indeed, many believe that the Bordeaux mixture not only prevents rot, but has some obscure value as a fertilizer. Bordeaux Mixture. — First. The following is the offi- cial formula for Bordeaux Mixture, published in Farmers' Bulletin, No. 7, U. S. Department of Agriculture : — ''In a barrel that will hold 45 gallons, dissolve six pounds of copper sulphate, using eight or ten gallons of water, or as much as may be necessary for the purpose. In a tub or half barrel slake four pounds oi fresh lime. When completely slaked, add enough water to make a creamy whitewash. Pour this slowly into the barrel containing the copper sulphate solu- tion, using a coarse gunny sack stretched over the head of the barrel for a strainer. Finally fill the barrel with water, stir thoroughly, and the mixture is ready for use. Prepared in this way the cost of one gallon of the mixture will not exceed one cent, the price of copper sulphate being seven cents per pound and lime 30 cents per bushel. In all cases it is desir- able to use powdered copper sulphate, as it costs but little more and dissolves much more readily. It is highly import- ant also that fresh lime be used." By the addition of four ounces of Paris green or London purple to each 50 gallons of Bordeaux mixture, we have a most excellent insecticide and fungicide combined. The writer also adds one quart of glucose or cheap molasses to each 50 gallons of mixture. Second. A second mixture may be made which is cheaper and which the writer has found effective against potato " rot." It is made thus : — Sulphate of copper (blue stone), four pounds ; quicklime, four pounds ; water, 80 gallons ; add four ounces of Paris green or London purple and one quart of glucose or molasses to each 50 gallons of mixture. FUNGOUS DISEASES. 51 '' It is found," says Professor B. T. Galloway, " that much time is saved by preparing what may be called stock solution of both copper sulphate and lime milk. A stock solution of copper sulphate may be made by dissolving copper sulphate in water at the rate of two pounds to a gallon. The most convenient way to dissolve the copper sulphate is to tie it in a coarse sack and then suspend the same in a barrel in such a way that it will be as near the top as possible. The barrel is then filled with water, and the copper sulphate within the sack quickly dissolves, the solution sinking at once to the bottom and the fresh water coming to the top to take its place. " If the copper sulphate is placed at the bottom of the bar- rel at once, the surrounding water soon becomes saturated with the chemical in solution, and in this condition, being heavier than the water alone, it remains at the bottom, and in consequence prevents the further action of the liquid above. ''If it is desired to make up a 50-gallon barrel of stock copper solution, 100 pounds of copper sulphate is weighed out, suspended in the sack within the barrel as already described, and the barrel is then filled to a 50-gallon mark previously made. As soon as the copper sulphate is dissolved, the sack should be removed and sufficient water added to bring the solution up to the desired quantity. A stock solution pre- pared in this way will last indefinitely, provided too much of the water is not allowed to evaporate. '• In preparing a stock milk of lime, slake 100 pounds of fresh lime after the fashion practiced by masons. When slaked place the paste in a 50-gallon barrel and then fill the latter with water. " In preparing Bordeaux mixture from such stock solutions lit is only necessaiy to take a given quantity of each and mix Ithem together. Thus, if 50-gallon formula for Bordeaux mixture is adopted, it will be necessary to use three gallons of (the stock solution of copper sulphate and approximately two 52 POTATOES FOR PROFIT. gallons of the stock lime preparation. The copper sulphate solution should first be placed in a barrel and then nearly enough water added to fill the latter. The lime milk should then be added and the whole thoroughly stirred. Before using, the mixture should be tested by the potassium ferrocyanide test j that is, a few drops of the solution of the latter chemi- cal should be added, and if no change in color is noted the fungicide may be considered perfectly safe. In case a reddish precipitate forms when the potassium ferrocyanide is added, lime milk should be stirred in until no reaction takes place." (''Insect Life," No. 2, Vol. vii, page 127.) To the farmer who may not be prepared to make the potassium ferrocyanide test, we suggest the use of a slight ex- cess of the lime milk in preparing Bordeaux mixture from stock solutions of copper sulphate and milk of lime. CHAPTER VIII. HARVESTING. No part of the work of potato growing is attended with so many difficulties. The time in which the crop must be secured, if secured at all, is often very limited, and the work must be pushed from the very start. A change in the I weather, a very wet spell, may cause the loss of several days, I often leaving the ground soggy ; or a long dry spell may have I so hardened the ground that it is lumpy and difficult to work; then there are sure to be little breaks and consequent delays for repairs of machinery, — in fact, a thousand-and-one little I annoyances are liable to confront us just as they do in har- ! vesting grain or in haying. The scarcity of really good machinery for doing the work is another great drawback in harvesting potatoes. For the j many hindrances and delays, for all the emergencies liable i to happen, we must be ever ready with expedients for over- I coming difficulties and accomplishing our work. I If you intend to grow potatoes for profit you must have a j good potato digger, one that is large enough and strong 1 enough to do the work required. If I could sell my experi- , ence with potato diggers and potato digger agents and manu- j facturers for what it has cost me, I would think myself pretty well to do. I have tried walking diggers and riding diggers, elevating diggers and shaking diggers, one-, two-, and four- horse diggers, and at times I have felt that I would have to go ( back to the old-fashioned hand-fork, or plow them in the old- fashioned way. And yet there are good, strongly made potato 53 54 POTATOES FOR PROFIT. diggers that do the work well. With whatever machine you choose, the work of digging may be expedited by careful pre- paration. Should the land be foul with weeds or grass, or should there be a heavy growth of vines, these should be removed before digging is begun. The digging can always be done better if the trash is first removed. The removal of the encumbering vines, trash, etc., can best be accomplished with a mower and horse rake. If the rows are three feet apart, a five-foot machine will cut two rows at a swarth, and if the rubbish is dry, rake it into windrows and burn, or, if not too cumbersome, rake into bunches and leave until the potatoes are dry. If the ground has become hard it is best to run a slanting tooth harrow over the field, going lengthwise with the rows, thus breaking up the top crust, so that in running up over the digger much of the dirt will fall through and thus give the machine a better chance of separating the tubers from the soil. Now as to the machine used : considering the great dif- ferences in soils, the varying habits of growth with different varieties of potatoes, whether deep or shallow, scattering or close in the hill, — considering all the different circumstances that are liable to confront us, I am fully convinced that the Hoover Digger (see Fig. i8) is the best. I regard it as the best — Fi?'st, because it is the only potato digger that separates the trash from the tubers, carrying the trash to one side. Second, because it leaves the potatoes in a narrower row entirely out of the way of the wheels or horses in digging the next row, and, I may add, making the picking up of the tubers much easier. Third, because the Hoover digger separates the tubers from the soil by a forward and backward sliding motion, thus allow- ing the tubers to slide off without bruising, instead of tossing them up as other diggers do. HARVESTING. 55 Fourth, this digger is strongly and honestly made, of the best materials. This is especially important with a potato digger, for if the season be a dry one and the ground is hard, 56 POTATOES FOR PROFIT. the tubers are likely to be deeply set in the ground. The digger will be required to withstand a severe strain, and if it be a light, flimsy machine it may break down and cause much delay, and possibly the loss of a part of the crop. Fifth, having no cogs to wear or break, and being lower geared than many other machines, with the wearing parts well covered to exclude dirt and sand, I believe it to be a longer- lived machine than most others. •Now, having your land prepared and trash removed, your digger ready, well oiled and all nuts tight, and a full comple- ment of diggers, wagons, horses, and teamsters, you are ready for business. Do not try to work with an inadequate force. In digging I always use four good horses, hitching them to the machine four abreast. The distance the potatoes have to be hauled will, to a large extent, determine the number of teams to be used ; but if you intend to do a day's digging, have at least two teams for hauling. In digging any of the tougher-skinned varieties, especially if for market, I prefer to have the potatoes picked right into baskets and dumped directly into the wagon, rather than to sack them in the field, or to handle, as many do, in boxes. Have the teamsters to drive along as close as possible to the edge of the rows and to keep up with the pickers, care- fully dumping the baskets into the wagon as they are handed up by the pickers. Most of my picking is done by boys. At this time of year it is often hard to get enough good men, and a strong, active boy will often do faster and better work than a man. Always have enough pickers to gather the potatoes nearly as fast as dry, so that, if the digger is stopped a short time before night, all the tubers can be easily secured before the usual time to stop work. Don't try to work too late ; by eight or ten hours of steady, well-directed work in the field you will accomplish more than by working over-time without HARVESTING. 57 a judicious division of labor. I have found that most hands, and especially boys, appreciate one's efforts to make their work as light and agreeable as possible, and are sure to resent as an imposition all attempts to compel them to work over- hours, or to do more than they are able. If the potatoes are to be stored, we always haul and shovel directly into the pit or cellar, using a potato or coke-scoop shovel. (Fig. 19.) Fig. 19.— Potato or Coke-scoop Shovel. If the potatoes are to be shipped, they are placed in a dark room and allowed to sweat before being sorted for shipment. In handling care should always be taken not to bruise the tubers. In case of the thin-skinned varieties, or choice ones grown specially for seed, it is best to pick directly into boxes or baskets and haul at once to the place of storage. CHAPTER IX. STORING AND MARKETING. Before sorting potatoes, especially if they are to be shipped any great distance, I prefer that they be stored in a pile in a dark, cool place for a week or ten days, so that they ma} sweat. The skins are by this process toughened, and any din which may have adhered to the tubers after di 2:2 in 2: will be loosened and fall off. Besides, I believe there is much less danger of heating and loss if shipped during warm or wet weather than if freighted when first dug. If a tender-skinned variety, the crop should be sorted by hand, especially if intended for seed, carefully taking out any bruised, cut, or imperfect tubers, together with the small ones. "^ If the skin is of ordinary toughness, after having gone through the sweat, they can be run through a sorter. There are a number of these machines in the market. I have found the Hoover (see Fig. 20) as good if not better than any other. Set the sorter with the hopper near enough the pile of potatoes for convenient shoveling. Place a basket at the end for the large tubers and another directly under the machine to catch the smaller ones, or boards may be fastened to the legs and the potatoes shoveled away as rapidly as they accumulate., Now, with a smart man- to shovel and a boy to turn ^le erank, and another lively boy to change and empty baskets, one can easily sort a car of potatoes a day. If free from scal> or cut potatoes, this will be force enough, but if the crop is infected with scab or has been cut much in harvesting, a good 58 STORING AND MARKETING. 59 man should be placed at the rear of the sorter to throw out all objectionable tubers. When our crop is large or the potatoes are to be shipped for I the general market, we set the sorter in the door of the build- 6o POTATOES FOR PROFIT. ing or storage room and have the potatoes shoveled into the hopper directly from the wagon that brings them from the field. If the potatoes are to be shipped any great distance they should be shoveled into barrels or bags. For whole car lots I prefer to use bags, as they are much easier to handle than barrels, and pack so much better in the car. Again, if the weather is warm or damp the tubers are not so liable to heat. The bags should be filled perfectly full and then sown up tightly. In shipping long distances, I pre- fer a large thick bag holding from four to five bushels. These larger sacks save considerable time in sewing as well as in load- ing wagons and cars. With a good store truck and plank run- way from the store-room to the wagon, men of ordinary strength can easily wheel the sacks to the \\'agon and from the wagon to the car. In loading a car begin at one end and pack the bags as closely together as possible. Fill to the door and then commence at the other end of the car and proceed as before until the entire space is tightly filled, so that the bags will not move about or be disturbed by the motion of the car. If care is thus taken in loading a car, the potatoes may be transported long distances without injury. If to be sent to any particular market inquiries should be made as to the size and shape of the packages to be used. Different markets demand different packages. The sack most generally used is one holding i8o pounds, but some markets prefer loo pound sacks. If the potatoes are to go but a short distance they can be shipped in bulk. I often so ship the greater part of the crop, sometimes drawing it directly from the field, having the sorter in the car where the work of separating the marketable tubers from the small ones is readily done. By far the larger part of the crop grown in the West is so drawn directly from the field to the cars ; or the tubers are placed in piles, and cov- ered with straw until drawn to the cars. STORING AND MARKETING. 6l If possible a dry or moderately dry time should be chosen for harvesting. But if the season is damp the tubers should be allowed to lie on the ground for a few hours, exposed to the wind and sun. Winter Storage. — Much labor may be saved in storing away the potato crop if we have provided a few cheap conveniences which the farmer can make himself. The first and one of the most useful devices is the dumping gate, of which many good makes can be found in our western markets. It may be so arranged as to be let down from the top to nearly level with the bottom of the wagon bed, and ' should have sides six or eight inches wide to keep the tubers I from rolling off sideways. I A good chute should also be provided. It should have sides J four to six inches high and a slat bottom, the slats running ! lengthwise and being about two inches wide and from one- j half to three-quarters of an inch apart, so that the dirt will ] run through ; one end should be placed in the wagon and the S other enter the cellar or pit at just such an angle as will allow I the potatoes to roll gently down the incline. In this manner the rough-skinned varieties may be handled with a saving of much labor. But tender-skinned varieties should be carried : down in baskets or bags. Before storing, the tubers should be sorted and all showing indications of disease thrown out. Use every reasonable precaution to prevent bruising. I always keep pits open during the night as long as it can be safely done without danger of freezing, so as to keep the tem- perature low, that the potatoes may remain dormant. Where merely temporary storage for one winter is wanted, a pit (Fig. 2i), dug about three feet deep, five or six feet wide, and as long as is necessary to store the crop, will be found satisfactory. Make a ventilator for every 15 feet in length of pit by using a one-by-six inch fence beard 16 feet long, sawn in two pieces, one nine feet and the other seven feet 62 POTATOES FOR PROFIT. long. Rip the seven-foot piece lengthwise, making strips three-by-one inch. Place these strips even at the top end and nail together. This leaves an air space of three by four inches, and the narrow strips coming only to within two feet of the bottom end, give a circulation of air all through the tubers; set these up in the pit before putting in any potatoes, resting the bottom end on the ground, so as to take all damp air from the bottom. Fill the pit to within six or eight inches of the top at sides and ends, rounding it up in the middle to Fig. 21. — Cross-Section of Potato Pit. one or two feet above the surface of the ground. Cover i with at least two feet of good dry straw — wheat or rye pre- ferred, — using care to have straw well tucked in at the sides and ends of the pit, so that, as the covering freezes and separ- ates from the side, there will be no air space made. If care is used in covering, and the pit is not dug too deep or filled too near the top at the edges, I have always found the tubers to come out sound in the spring ; but where pits of this kind have been made too deep, I have sometimes found a loss on STORING AND MARKETING. 63 top resulting from the warm vapor rising from the bottom and freezing in the straw above j this thaws out in warm spells and causes rot. There will be no need at any time of closing the ventilator, as the damp air going out will fr-eeze in cold weather on meeting the surface air, and in very cold weather close up the top, thawing out as soon as the weather moderates. When large crops of potatoes or other root crops are reg- ularly grown, a permanent pit or cellar will be found not only 5-iS^44^^gi;« Fig. 22.— Permanent Potato Cellar, the most satisfactory, but the cheapest. If possible, select a high, dry place to locate the pit, or else make it so by drain- age. Excavate the pit by using a plow and road scraper, finishing up with a spade. I prefer a pit eight to ten feet wide and at least eight feet deep. It may be wider if many varieties are grown, so as to allow an alley-way along one side. Build it as long as is necessary to hold the crop. Dig a space at one end eight feet long and six feet wide for a hatchway, with steps or a ladder. Draw a line through center of pit lengthwise, and dig post-holes one-and-one-half feet deep and 64 POTATOES FOR PROFIT. large enough to take in a good post of cedar or other durable wood, eight inches in diameter and twelve feet long. Set these firmly in the holes and tamp well. Square and level the tops of these, which will extend three feet above the top of pit. Place the ridge-pole, which should be a strong timber, eight-by-ten inches, spiked securely to the tops of the center- posts. Choose two two-by-twelve inch planks and lay them on the ground on each side of the pit at least six inches from the inside edge. For rafters or supports use fence posts placed several inches apart, fitted to the ridge-pole, and resting on the side planks. Spike firmly to the ridge-pole and side planks. Make frames two-by-six and three feet in depth with cleats inside at bottom for bottom cover. Use a tight-fitting cover for both the top and bottom. The top cover should extend over the edge one inch. Place these frames not over fifteen feet apart on one side of top for the convenient filling of the pit. Make ventilators four-by-six inches inside measure, and long enough to extend two feet above surface of covering and one foot below ridge-pole, and spike in place on one side of same. Now make another long enough to reach the bottom of pit and large enough to slip up over the one just described, but be sure to have the first four feet of the bottom quite full of two- inch auger holes, or else do not extend side boards to within one foot of bottom. On top of roof place cornstalks, sorghum bagasse, or other coarse material and on this spread two feet of soil. Sow the soil on top of pit with clover, to prevent washing. Make a hatchway with tight- fitting, inside and outside doors. Such a pit, if dug in good, dry soil, and if good material has been used, will last for years. If the soil on the sides should not be sufficiently strong to stand, the walls must be boarded. If too wet, cement must be used. I find that a pit constructed in this manner keeps the tubers firmer, and longer without sprouting, than where a solid plank or stone top is used. CHAPTER X. PROPAGATING NEW VARIETIES. In propagating new varieties of potatoes or, in fact, of any plant, the one object should be improvement. There are enough worthless potatoes already, and every new one should . mark an advance and be an imi)rovement on our many excel- j lent varieties. ^ Like produces like ; a strong, vigorous parentage transmits ^ a high degree of vitality to the offspring. On the other j hand, weakness is the sure inheritance derived from a dis- i eased or feeble ancestry. Says Professor Bailey : '' Man must I not only practice a judicious selection of parents from which I the cross is to come, which is in reality the exercise of a ^j choice, but he must eventually select the best from among the '^ crosses in order to maintain a high degree of usefulness and I to make any advancement." We know that judicious crossing within the species, aided by careful selection of individuals between which the cross is to be made will improve the stock, but we must go a step further. The strongest, most vigorous parent will, to a greater extent, impress the offspring, whether it be the staminate or pistillate parent, with both its bad and good qualities. With these facts before us let us go to work with a view to making improvement. Choose for both parents the very best specimens and trust nothing to chance. We sometimes see potato seed advertised for sale. In a few cases these 'lOfferings are from carefully selected specimens of choice va- rieties, and consequently the seed is very high in price. Most 65 66 POTATOES FOR PROFIT. of the seed offered, however, is simply taken from balls found growing in any field and upon any variety. Such seed is worthless. There can be no reasonable assurance of success unless you at least know the character of one of the parents. The only safety is in buying from responsible men who will truthfully tell you from what varieties seed has been grown, or you must grow the seed yourself. Having decided to work for some special as well as real improvement, begin by pollinating the pistillate flowers with pollen from the staminate, using a finecamel's-hair pencil for the purpose, and being careful not to injure the tender organs of the plant. If this method is found too tedious let nature do its own work : simply select the tubers of the varieties from vv'hich you wish to save the seed. Plant them, and then on each side of the row from which you wish to save balls plant a row of the potatoes you wish to fertilize from. They will do their own fertilizing much more surely and cheaply than can be done by man ; be sure that no other varieties are grow- ing in the immediate vicinity.* Saving the Seed. — As soon as the balls containing the seed begin to ripen or turn yellow, but before they fall, gather what you wish to preserve. Lay them on a board or paper for a few days and then squeeze the seed into a glass of water and wash thoroughly. Place in the sun for an hour or two to dry, after which keep in a dry, airy place for a few days, when the seed is ready to store away. Label plainly and keep in a dry place. Keep a record of the parent varieties. * Many varieties which we have never known to bear seed will do so when planted beside others of robust growth. This has been the case with Burpee's Superior, which had never grown a ball until I planted it beside one of my seedlings of very robust habit of growth. The row next to the seedling was loaded with balls, the second row contained a few, and the other rows (24 in number) failed to produce a ball. PROPAGATING NEW VARIETIES. 67 describing habits of growth, etc., so that in after years you may have a com})lete history of the experiment. THE SEEDLING. In early spring sow the seed in the hotbed or a box in the house and let the rows be two or three inches apart, and about half an inch dee^). Use wood labels to mark the rows. Keep the ground moist, and in a few days the young plants will appear. Be sure to keep the bed moist and warm, but do not allow it to become overheated or the tender plants will be killed. ' As soon as the plants are from an inch to an inch-and-a-half I high, it is best to prick them out to other rows in the bed or j to a cold frame, giving them more space so that they may J become more stocky; it is also often well to prick out the I second time, using small pasteboard boxes about four inches 'i square, three inches deep and without bottoms. These can I be set in a shallow box and filled with rich, mellow garden * soil and placed in a cold frame until set out in the open i ground. i| Then select the richest and mellowest piece of ground in t your garden, thoroughly pulverize the soil, mark off the rows far enough apart to be worked with a horse cultivator, setting the plants in the rows about 16 or 18 inches apart. Set the plants a little deeper at each transplanting, firm the soil with the hands or fingers, but do not press hard enough to cause \ the earth to pack or bake. Some shade should be given the young plants for a few days after they have been set out. If grown in boxes as directed, they can be taken to the field for planting, and after marking out, holes may be made to receive the plants ; then take each box as required for planting, and with a small, sharp knife-blade cut down the corners of the box which may be removed as the plant is placed in the ground. This is 68 POTATOES FOR PROFIT. readily done without disturbing the roots. Set a small stake at each plant, bearing a number, so that during the growing season a record of its habits of growth may be kept. Keep the ground well worked and free from weeds, drawing a little dirt to the plants at each hoeing. Early in the fall, before danger of freezing, secure as many small boxes as are required for storing the seedlings^ — either wood or pasteboard will do — and mark each box with the corresponding number of the hill from which the potatoes are taken. Store the boxes in a safe place in the cellar until the coming of spring. At planting time prei)are the land in the best jjossible man- ner, select for planting the best specimens of each box, placing a numbered stake firmly at the end of each row, or between the varieties in each row. A record should be kept of the number of hills, habits of growth, together with any other data that may help in distin- guishing each variety in case the stakes are lost or broken. But this should be carefully guarded against, and a missing stake should be immediately replaced. By all means begin the numbering from the same end of the rows. The labor of the succeeding seasons is simply a repetition of the work described, each year selecting only the finest specimens of each variety and keeping a careful record of their habits of growth. This process of selection must be continued for five years before one is justified in introducing a distinct variety; and we have frequently continued the work of selection for six and seven years before being satisfied that a variety was worth introduction. A few agricultural writers have claimed that three years were sufficient to develop and fix the type, but I want no three- year-old varieties. I have had hundreds of them to give every promise of making fine varieties until the fourth and even the fifth year, and then they would be found wanting in some essential characteristic, or would develop some fault that PROPAGATING NEW VARIETIES. 69 would cause me to discard them altogether. Again, other varieties for the first three or four years may show scarcely a point in their favor. I now have in mind a potato that for three years was so extremely small that I only saved the tubers because they were very smooth and pretty, and when cooked were of excellent quality. This potato increased but little in size until the fifth year; suffice it to say it is to-day one of the heaviest cropping early potatoes in cultivation. Propagators can plant but a few hills of each variety from year to year, or they would soon occupy too much ground. It has always been my plan to plant 20 to 40 hills each year, increasing the number to 200 or more of the most promising varieties. This is done to enable us to work up a stock of seed as soon as possible after ascertaining to a certainty that a new variety is worthy of introduction. From the very be- ginning all new varieties that show symptoms of disease, are rough or ill-shaped, should be discarded, and nothing but healthy, vigorous growers, smooth and well formed, should be retained. If one is to make a success in any branch of gar- dening or farming, he must cull with a bold hand. We can- not afford to waste time in propagating plants on anything but the best. GROWING SEED POTATOES. When the crop is to be grown for seed alone no labor nor care should be spared in selecting the stock seed, and in choosing and preparing the most suitable land. The prepara- tion and after culture should be most thorough and complete. Only the choicest tubers from vigorous stock, grown under favorable circumstances, should be selected, and all small, rough, irregularly shaped seed should be rejected. Wherever possible, land should be selected where the crop has been free from disease for a number of years. Cutting the Seed.— The seed should be cut carefully by 70 POTATOES FOR PROFIT. hand, using a knife with a sharp, thin blade, — a concave- bladed knife is best. (See Fig. 2, page 24.) I always prefer cutting to a single eye when growing for seed. By this divi- sion of the tuber there will not be so many potatoes set in the hill, but they will be larger, smoother, and finer in every respect, and consequently there will be a larger crop of mer- chantable potatoes. If a tuber be cut lengthwise through the center with a sharp knife and then a thin slice betaken from either half, it will be observed, on holding the slice up to the light, that small, thread-like lines lead from the eye at the surface downward toward the center, where they unite with the main germ which passes through the tuber from the eye or blow^ end to the stem or end where the tuber has growai to the vine. If a tuber be taken in the left hand and cut with a concave- bladed knife, commencing at the first eye at the bottom or stem-end and cut toward the center, and then down to the surface again, it will be observed that the slice contains the eye with all its thread-like connections or primary roots intact. All the eyes should be so cut. Simply revolve the tuber one- half way round and cut an eye at each turn until the seed or blow end is reached. Leave in each eye enough of the tuber to sustain the germ until w^ell established in the ground. It should be remembered that the eye-pieces are not like seeds. There is no embryo to unfold. A potato is to be regarded as an underground branch, and the set or eye as a bud from which another plant is developed. THE TRENCH SYSTEM. I have only tried this method of planting on a limited scale and under rather unfavorable circumstances, yet it is my im- pression that this system requires too much labor and expense, both in planting and in harvesting the crop. Especially do I think this will be true where land is cheap and labor high. PROPAGATING NEW VARIETIES. 7 1 With the small farmer and village gardener, anxious to make the most of what land he has, the trench system will grow in favor as it becomes better understood. '* The object," says Mr. E. S. Carman in the " New Potato Culture," " of the trench system in potato raising is twofold : first, to give a mellow, porous soil for the growing tubers. It is claimed that any considerable pressure upon them must have soQie effect to mar their shape and dwarf their size. The tuber takes no part in the nourishment of the plant, but must itself be nourished by the plant and its roots. If, therefore, ' when and after the tubers begin to form, the plants do not ' receive an abundance of food, their further growth must I cease or at least be checked. But without moisture the food ( in the soil is unavailable, no matter how great soever may be ' the supply. Hence, therefore, second, the trench system, it I is maintained, retains moisture during periods of dry weather, when the soil as ordinarily treated would dry out." (See I page 25 of the '•' New Potato Culture.") \ This system consists simply in working the land deeply, and then forming trenches from six to ten inches deep. Mr. Carman, in his many experiments, obtained the largest yield in trenches four inches deep. The next best results were with j trenches eight inches deep. He says: " When it is consid- ■ ered that the eight-inch trenches give the next largest yield, we have evidence that the experiments have not been carried on long enough to warrant any positive generalizations." In this system the soil in the bottom of the trench is worked over and the fertilizer well worked in. The tubers are planted at the bottom of the trench, covered lightly at first and then the dirt is gradually worked in at each cultivation during growth. While preparing and planting in the trench system requires more work than in the ordinary way, yet the culture is some- what lessened and the rows kept cleaner with less work. The question with the large grower will be, Can the crop be in- 72 POTATOES FOR PROFIT. creased enough to justify the extra expenditure of labor ? The old method of planting in drills will undoubtedly be con- tinued until improved tools and machinery are invented for simplifying the work in the trench system. Until that time, in suitable soil rightly managed, drill cub ture, light hilling, and deep planting afford the least expense and promise the greatest profit to the farmer. CHAPTER XI. LEADING VARIHTIES. Burpee's Extra Early. — We place this grand new potato at the head of the list, because we believe it to be the earliest first-class potato on the market, and the very best extra early potato grown. (Fig. 23.) It was first introduced by Messrs. W. Atlee Burpee cSc Co. in 18S9, as Van Ornam's seedling. No. 37. It has been thoroughly tried in every State of the Union, in British Columbia, the Canadian provinces, and Europe, and is more widely grown throughout the world than any other early potato of recent introduction. Its claim of being from ten days to two weeks earlier than Early Rose, Beauty of Hebron, Early Puritan, Polaris, etc., and one week earlier than Early Ohio, has been fully substantiated. In the South, where it is now so extensively grown, Burpee's Extra Early seems better suited to the soil and climate than any of the foregoing varieties, and has proved the best market potato for shipping to the North. It is a seedling from Early Rose, grows uniformly of good size, free from roughness or scab, and produces very few small tubers. It is oblong in shape, eyes few and near the surface, very smooth skin, creamy white, fine-grained flesh, slightly tinged with pink. Grows very compactly in the hill and near the surface. ■ Foliage strong and vigorous, and of an intensely dark-green color. A sure cropper, good keeper, and im- mensely prolific. Eating qualities the very best. Early Six Weeks Market.— This is evidently a seedling or sprout from Early Ohio; medium to large in size, oblong 73 74 POTATOES FOR PROFIT. I LEADING VARIETIES, 75 to round in shape, with few eyes near the surface, smooth, lightish pink color. Robust habits of growth, a fair cropper, and quality good. Van Ornam's Earliest.— So nearly the counterpart of Burpee's Extra Early that its description is scarcely necessary. Tops not quite so large, tubers grow rather shorter and more full in center. Sets rather more in the hill, but does not grow quite so large. Is about the same in yield and quality. Early Ohio. — Too well-known to need description here, '.'xcept to say it is a grand cropper in most places. Quality good and a splendid shipper, but very liable to scab with us. Early Maine. — So closely resembling the Early Rose that few would be able to tell them apart, but a better cropper and about one week earlier. Fine eating qualities. Early Puritan. — Owing to the small tops, may be planted somewhat closer ihan most varieties. A handsome, oblong potato; skin and flesh pure white. Cooks dry and floury* and is of excellent quality. It is very productive ; the vines are of vigorous, upright growth, and the tubers mature as early as Early Rose. They are very dry and fit for table use when only half grown. A good cropper, but scabs some with us. Beauty of Hebron. — Needs no description here ; it has simply forged its way to the front on unquestioned merit. A rapid and vigorous grower, ripening as early as Early Rose, which it resembles but frequently exceeds in productiveness and excellence for table use. Freeman.— No potato of late years has been so exten- sively advertised or more widely distributed. The tuber is oval-shaped, very smooth and handsome in appearance. Flesh pure white, both when raw and cooked, fine grained and of best flavor. A good cropper on suitable land ; one of 76 POTATOES FOR PROFIT. the best keepers and shippers. A fine, medium early variety for the small gardener or amateur, but it requires the best land and careful culture, and is so very sensitive to extremes of weather that we do not believe it can ever become a stan- dard and be grown by the average farmer. Extra Early Walton. — We sent this variety out in 1891 as an extra early potato, ]>nt it has proved only medium early. Tops large, strong, and very robust, foliage thick, heavy, and intensely dark green. The tubers growcom})actly in the hill, very large in size, and color of Early Rose. Tlie heaviest cropper I have ever grown. " About perfect in quality," says i\\Q Rural New Yorker. It is as good as the Freeman, and will yield more tlian three times the crop of the former under ordinary circumstances. Early Rose. — We need say but little regarding this grand old standard, which to-day retains all its fine qualities, and in many places its prolificness. It is the parent of more good potatoes than any other variety with which we are acquainted. Early Polaris. — A grand potato closely resembling the Flarly Turitan. The Great Divide. — The Great Divide (Figs. 24 and 25) was originated in Lewis, Cass County, Iowa, by me, from a seed-ball produced in 1887 on the Early Ohio, fertilized with the Old California. The Old California was the heaviest-cropping and best keep- ing potato grown here. While of finest quality for table use, it was too rough and deep-eyed; it was very healthy and robust in growth, withstanding drought and insects better than any other variety known. The vines of the Great Divide are stout, erect, and branch- ing direct from the main stem ; foliage plentiful, with dark- green leaves, withstanding drought, extreme heat, and attacks of insects admirably. It is medium to late ; perfectly free from disease, scab, or LEADINCx VARIETIES. 77 blight. Tubers of oblong, round form; eyes plentiful and found on the surface, giving it a handsome appearance, and making almost no waste in paring. Skin very white, firm, and tough. Grows very compactly in the hill, and while the tubers are well under ground, they are borne near the surface of the soil. Size large to very large, with scarcely a small one. Our records show that in the past four years it has been an immense yielder of large, very smooth, fine-sized potatoes, and that it \ \ 1^ Fig. 24.— Showing Habit of Growth in the Hill. {From a photograph.) sets enough tubers always to produce a fine crop. Perfectly free from disease, its constitution seems iron-clad. Flesh very white, and when baked or boiled, breaks open like a snowball,— white and floury ; it cooks finely and very quickly, with a delicious nutty flavor. It is the best keeper I have ever grown. Placed in a cellar lOctober 15, 1892, when taken out for planting June 2, 1893, the tubers were without a sign of sprout, as firm and hard as 78 POTATOES FOR PROFIT. LEADING VARIETIES. 79 when first dug. A tuber then tested for eating showed it had retained its fine flavor. Although we cut the tubers to single eye pieces, which we planted i8 inches apart, every eye grew, coming up quickly and finely, and producing a perfect stand. Taking the results of my careful records, supple- mented by reports from Agricultural Experiment Stations and potato experts, received from almost every State, also from Europe, I consider it the most robust growing, heaviest cropping, longest keeping, and best shipping main-crop Potato in America. In fact, it is a peer of the Burbank in its palmiest days, while it is adapted to a greater variety of ' soils and climates. I It will produce a less percentage of small tubers in propor- • tion to the whole crop than any other potato grown. It will j' succeed better on a greater, variety of soils, and under wider I extremes of temperature, and retain its fine quality and ap- i pearance. \ Burpee's Empire State. — First introduced in 1S85, the \ Empire State has had an immense sale and become very pop- I ular throughout the country. The potatoes are oblong in * shape, of large size, smooth, and very handsome. It is a seedling raised by E. L. Coy from the only seed ball he had ever succeeded in finding on the White Elephant. It is rich and delicate in flavor, remarkably free from rot, is never hollow, and cooks evenly through without any coarseness; skin and flesh pure white, eyes plentiful and near the surface. It yields large crops, is easily dug and is a favorite in every market. Burbank's Seedling. — Tops erect ; strong and plentiful foliage; grows compactly in the hill. Skin white, somewhat rough, has many eyes, a trifle too deep. A splendid cropper, good keeper and of very fine quality. Burpee's Superior.— Originated in 1884 (Fig. 26) from a seed ball found in a field of White Star.- In shape it some- 8o POTATOES FOR PROFIT. what resembles its parent, but is more compact in form. It is usually covered with a line netting, which always denotes a choice cooking quality. Its vigorous habit of growth enables it to withstand disease to a remarkable degree. The eyes lie very even with the surface. Both skin and flesh are very white. The tubers grow so compactly in the hill that they are easily harvested by hand or machine. They are medium late, and are the viost p7'ofitable for main crop of all the standard varie- ties. They cook easily and quickly all through, having no hard or grainy core. Its texture is mealy, its flavor delicious Fig. 26. — Burpee's Superior. and peculiarly rich and delicate. Vines are strong and firm. Foliage heavy, and this enables it to withstand the ravages of that new and much to be dreaded enemy to potato growers, — the Cucumber Flea Beetle. World's Fair. — A fine new potato, originated in Wiscon- sin. Vines rather spreading; small, plentiful foliage. Tubers round, oval, large size, grows somewhat scattering in the hill, but near the surface. Creamy white in color, and a grand table potato, being dry, floury, with a rich nutty flavor, h sj^lendid cropper. Jl. LEADINCr VARIETIES. 8l Rural New Yorker, No. 2. — This new potato (Fig. 27) originated on the experimental grounds of Tlie Rural New Yorkei'^ and although only introduced in 1889, ^"^^s already created quite Sifi/rore among potato growers. As the agri- cultural papers have contained so many remarkable reports of this variety it is only necessary to say a (ew words descrip- tive of its merits. It is of very distinct and handsome appear- ance ; the tubers are of large size, with remarkable smoothness Fig. 27.— Rural New Yorker, No. 2. ! of skin ; the eyes are few, distinct, and shallow. It is of ex- ^ treme whiteness, both of skin and flesh, and miexcelled table qualities. It has great vigor in growth and solidity of tuber, which enable it to resist disease to a remarkable degree. Thoroughly tested throughout America and Europe, it has proved to be one of the most valuable varieties. White Elephant, or Late Beauty of Hebron.— One of our best croppers and shippers. Skin and flesh pure white ; 82 POTATOES FOR PROFIT. cooks dry and mealy. Combines great productiveness, power of resisting disease, excellent quality, and great beauty. Brownell's Winner. — This fine late potato, first intro- duced by Messrs. W. Atlee Burpee & Co. in 1890, origi- nated with the late Mr. E. S. Brownell, of Vermont, who stated: "I originated No. 2000, or BrowneW s V/iiiner, in 1855, by hybridizing the White Star with the Peachblow. I consider it of superior quality, either baked or boiled ; it cooks even, white, and dry. The vines are strong and healthy, and well calculated to resist the potato beetle. The tubers grow large, long, oval, slightly flattened, are very smooth and handsome, with few eyes. They grow compact in the hills, with few small ones. The color is a light rose-pink ; it matures medium late, and is a great producer. I think it is superior in all respects to any variety that I have ever origi- nated or grown." Extra Early Vermont. — Similar in color, form, and general appearance to the Early Rose, from which it cannot be distinguished. INDEX A CETATE of lead, 39 ■'*• Ammonia sulphate, 18, 21 Ammoniac nitrogen, 19 Arsenate of lead, 39, 40 of soda, 39 Aspinwall potato cutter, 24, 25 planter, 28 ID EAUTY of Hebron, 27, 75 ■*^ Beet scab, 46 Beetles, blister 43, 44 ash-gray, 43 black, 43,44 black-rat, 43, 44 striped, 43 Blight of the potato, 48 Blue stone, 47 vitriol, 47 Bolley, Professor, 46, 47 Bordeaux mixture, 47, 50-52 Breed, Zephaniah, improved weeder, 3:^. 34 Burbank's Seedling, 79 Burpee's Empire State potato, 79 Extra Early potato, 27, 73-75 Superior potato, 79 CALIFORNIA potato, 76 Carman, Mr. E. S., 71 Castor pomace, 19 Chemical fertilizers, 16-23 Clusius, 10 Colorado potato beetle, 38-40 Copperas, 47 Copper sulphate, 47, 48 Corrosive sublimate, 47,48 Cotton-seed meal, 19 Cultivation, 32, 37 Cutting the seed, 69 -rvE CANDOLLE, 11 •"-^ Depth of planting, 27 Digger, Hoover potato, 54, 55 Dissolved bone black, 22 S. C. rock, 21, 22 Doryphora decemlineata, 38, 40 Downv mildew, 48 "Pi^ARLY Maine potato, 75 ■*-' Ohio " 75,76 Polaris " 76 Puritan " 75 Rose, " 27, 76 Six Weeks " 73, 75 Eau celeste, 47 Epicaerus imbricatus, 44 Epicauta vittata, 43 Extra Early Vermont potato, 82 Walton, 76 FARMYARD manure, 16, 23 Fresh, Fertilizers, 16-23 Fernald, Professor C. H., 40 Freeman potato, 75 Fungous diseases, 46-52 GALLOWAY, Professor B T., 51 Gray, Dr. Asa, 11 Great Divide potato, 76-79 Growing seed potatoes, 69 HARVESTING, 53-57 Herriot, Thomas, 12 Hoover potato sorter, 59-60 Humboldt, Alexander von, 11 TMBRICATED snout beetle, 44, 45 •*• Insect enemies, 38-45 Introduction, 9-13 Iron sulphate, 47 JAMES I, 12 Johnson, Professor S. W., 19 LAND plaster, 22, 38 Late blight or Downy mildew, Lytta albida, 44 atrata, 44 cinerea, 43-44 maculata, 44 murina, 44 83 84 INDEX. Leaf-si)ol disease, or early blight, 48 Leggett dry-powder gun, 38 Lever harrow, 33 London purple, 38 MACROSPORIUM solani, 48 Magazzini, Father, 10 Manures, 16, 17 Margined blister beetle, 43. 44 Massachusetts Gypsy Moth Commis- sion, 39 Meloidoe, 43 Mercuric bichloride, 47 Moullon, Mr. F. C, 39 Muriate potash, 21, 22, 23 ^M'EW potato culture, 71 ■*-^ Nitric nitrogen, 19 Nitrate soda, 19, 20, 22, 23 OHIO Junior potato, 27 Oospora scabies, 46, 47 Organic nitrogen, 19 Origin of cultivated plants, ii pAJONAL. 9 ■*• Fapas Peruanurum, 10 Paris green, 38 Parmentier, 11, 12 Permanent potato cellar, 63 Phlegethontius Carolina, 40 celeus, 40-42 Phytophora infestans, 48 Planet Jr. furrower, etc., 30 horse hoe, etc.. 35, 36 twelve-tooth harrow, 34 Planting, 24-31 Potassium ferrocyanide, 52 Potatoes, planted on clover sod, 16 growing seed, 69 winter storage of, 61-64 dejHh of planting, 27 distance apart, 26 different markets for, 60 fertilizers for, 18-23 forms of food for, iS ideal soil for, 13 Potato, Beauty of Hebron, 27, 75 blight or rot, 48 culture, use of harrow in, 32 Clusius' description of the, ic knife, concave-curved, 20 cutting seed, 24 Hoover digger, 54. 5S introduction into Britain, 12 Spain, 10 Potato, introduction into F^urope. 10 Virginia, 11 dried blood for the, 19, 21, 22 fish scraps for the, 19 sulphate amnu)nia " 18, 21 Early Maine, 75 Great Divide, 76-79 Early Ohio, 75, 76 Rose, 27, 76 Six Weeks, 27, 73,75 Ohio Junior, 27 organic nitrogen for the, 18 pit, 62, scoop shovel, 57 scab, 46, 47 treatment for, 46 scab, N. Y. Station Experi- ments, 47, 48 sorter, Hoover, 59 stalk weevil, 45 or tomato worm, 40 Prescott's Conquest of Peru, 9 Propagating new varieties, 65-72 ► OWLON, Dr., 11 '^ Rural New Yorker, No. 2, 81 SAVING seed. 66 Seedling, the, 67 Selection of seed, 24 Sir J. B. Lawes, 19 Sir Walter Raleigh, 12 Sivry, Philippe de, :o Soil and prejiaration, 13-15 Spotted blister beetle, 43,44 Stock milk of lime, 51,52 solution of copper suliihatc, 51 Storing and marketing potatoes, 5S-64 Sulphate ammonia, 22 potash, 21 'HAXTER, Dr. Roland, 46, 47 Trench system, 70, 71 TT'AN ORNAM'S Earliest potatn, 75 ^ Vilmorin-Andrieux, 11 TX/HITE Elephant potato, 81 ^* White blister beetle, 43, ii White vitriol, 47 W' orld's Fair potato, 80 ^INC sulphate, 47 Horticultural Books. WHY WE PUBLISH THEM. We believe it part of a soiiud business policy to sell not only the b33t Seeds that grow, but also to dirtuse aniou^ our friends knowled.ue that will be helpful in producing and marketin>i cops and in beautitviui;; tlie euvirouraents of the home. This conviction finds expression in the series of publications announced in the I'ol- lowing paues, and which fr.»ni year to year has been added to until we now oTfer a very complete and useful lilmiry of educational works. T lese books should be in every rural home, and sincr they can be secured for so small an outlay of cash, or are j^ivcn entirely free as premiums on seed orders, every one should have them. Books FREE as Premiums. ™jf„S'r-.he' —by allowing a credit of ten cents on every dollar sent for seeds plants,°or bull)s toward the i)urchase of any book we publish tint the purchaser may desire. Thus a $2.00 order, with K) cents ad led will secure any book offered for AO cents; with 30 cents added' any book offered for 50 cents. Or, a $3.00 order will secure free any book offered for 30 cents, or a $3.00 order any one oflered for 50 cents, and so on. It will be noticed that fhese premiums are entirely free, and do not prevent tlie selection of #1.25 worth of speds in packets for each Sl.OO seat us for seeds i,i packets. If the purchaser's order is all for seeds by weight or measure, on which we do not allow this discount, he is still entitled to the selection of any of our books. A YEAR'S WORK AT FORDHOOK FARM, WITH FIFTY BEAUTIFUL HALF=TONE ILLUSTRATIONS FROM PHOTOGRAPHS. This new book has been prepared to lay before the reader, in an attractive manner, by the united efforts of pen and camera, an ex- act comprehensive, and impartial picture of Fordiiook, precisely as it appears to the eyes of the average man or woman visitmg the Farm Althou-h the regular price is lO cents (or free as a premmm with a dollar orderf, wc will, upon receipt oHivo 2-c.ent ./.|mps mail a copy to the address of any planter who desires to onsuU it before seJlc, this season's order for seeds. Shall we mail you a copy now? PUBLISHED BY W. ATLEE BURPEE & CO., PHILADELPHIA. PA. THE BEAUTIFUL FLOWER GARDEN. By the weII=known Boston Artist, F. SCHUYLER MATHEWS, in Collaboration witli ARTHUR FEWKS, the Professional Grower. A book on artistic gardening, by a trained artist and enthusiastic amateur gardener. The pages over- tlow with pen-and-ink sketches from nature, while the subject mat- tor is drawn from the best in the artistic world of gardening, show- ing the iuHueuce of the formal English style, the Italian renais- sance, and the art of the Japanese upon gardening. An important part of this valu- aljle book is devoted to descriptions of flowers easily prooured and grown from seeds, bulbs, and cut- tings, with bright sketches show- ing their form of growth. The closing chapters comprise careful iiiltural directions by Mr. Fewks, the i)rofessional grower. The pre- vailing idea in the book is to teach harmony in the arrangement of flowers and plants. To introduce this book, the price per copy has been put at 50 cents, postpaid, which is actually less than the cost of production for the first edition. All About SWEET PEAS. REVISED AND ENLARGED. PRICE 20 CENTS. A Book of 131 Pages, vith 42 Illustrations. In 1893 we first published a little monogiapli, Ai i Abot Sweet Peas. It was so enthusiastically received that .'^>2,f>77 copies were sent out the first si'oson. From tlic oorrt'^pond- ence that followed we estimate that fully '2()0,0(Kt p.'r- sons reid this monograph. This wonderful fact eiu- phatically called for a book. We therefore had a beautifully illustrated volume prepared witli the fixed purpose of furnishing a niiniilfti' t-pitonie of the literature of this fragrant liowt-r. ilie author is, of course, Rev. W. T. Hi tcuins, a \\\< enthusiastic and successful grower, and an authority upon the subject. Our new book is complete, exhaiis- tive, and carefully edited. From our hundreds of trials at FoRDHooK and comparative .soil tests conducted by our chemist, Mr. Skmpers, in several sections of the country, we can safely say that cultural directions and fertilizers suggested are authoritative. Price 20 cents, or Free as a premium with a 5^2.00 order. CAN BE ORDERED FROM THE PUBLISHERS, OR ANY BOOK STORE IN THE UNITED STATES. PUBLISHED BY W, ATLEE BURPEE & CO., PHILADELPHIA, PA, Vegetables^Home Garden A VALUABLE MANUAL FOR THE MILLION. This is really a 30=cent book, but it is so obviously needed by everyone that we have decided to ofier it to our customers at the merely nominal charge of lO cents. It is a brief, clear, and reliable book of 125 pages, illustrated with more than seventy-hve engravings, including a map of the Life Zones of the United States, — the first map of the kind ever published in a work on gardening. In addition to the latest and best methods of cultivation, it gives, so far as is known, the geographical distribution of species from which our cultivated vegetables have been derived. The book is divided into two parts, with an appendix containing much tabu- lated information of daily interest to all gardeners. Part First treats of the Location and Management of the Home Garden, Soils, Drainage, Manuring, Composting, Concentrated Manures, Hot-beds and Cold Frames, Selection of Seed, Prepara- tion and Planting, Climate, Geographic Distribution of Plants and Animals, and briefly describes the Seven Life Zones of North America. Part Second gives the Distribution of Aboriginal Species, contains accurate and complete Cultural Directions for all Culinary Vegetables described in Burpee's Farm Annual, with Notes on Varieties and Time Required from Planting until Vegetables are Ready for Use, or to Maturity. In the Appendix are revised and corrected Planting Tables for Vegetables, Grass and Forage Crops, Weights of Agricultural Com- modities, Formulas for Insecticides and Fungicides, and Tables of Annual Rain-fall for all the States of the Union. The book has been compiled from our own publications, the trial records of Fordhook Farm, and a very comprehensive manuscript work on general gardening, owned by us, but which has not been published,— An- which we paid five hundred dollars. Our long experience has made clear the need of just such a work, and we advise everyone, — both amateur and professional gardeners, — to secure a copy. Price lO cents, or can be selected as a premium on seed orders amounting to $1.00. CAN BE ORDERED FROM THE PUBLISHERS, OR ANY BOOK STORE IN THE UNITED STATES. PUBLISHED BY W. ATLEE BURPEE & CO., PHILADELPHIA, PA. ONIONS FOR PROFIT, A Full and Complete Hand=book of Onion Growing. ^p-r?. PUBLISHED ^LEEBUl^PEE&Cc PHIL-ADELPHIA,P/\. At last we publish a really complete haud-book ou Ouion growing; it is by Mu. T, liKEiNKK, author of the New Onion Cultukk, of which book he says : — "The New Onion Culture was intended mostly to present a new pliase of the business, and to encourage further re- scarelies in an entirely new direction. As a ' Hand-book of Onion Growing ' it has short- comings and is far from being cninplete. It leaves too much room fur personal inquiries. I have looked the field of horti- cultural literatuie in America over ])retty closely, and am un- able to find a iiand-book for the Onion grower the teachings of which are based on modern met hods and embody (as they shduld in order to justify any < lainis of being ' up-to-the- timcs') the two systems, the old and the new, in profitable combination." Fully Illustrated. Price 50 Cents. CELERY FOR PROFIT. AH a;rowing possible to all intelli«j:ent p;ardeners. From tlie same area which wouM gi^e 8100.00 in anv other ve?;etable, you may take §100.00 or even S")0).OO in Celery, if you know how. Tiiis nt w book was specially written for us by T. Greiner, author of Oxioxs for Profit. It tells how to dispense with nine-tenths of the labor generally thought neces- sary in Celery growing, and how to make the business pay really big profits, "under the rig'it culture and conditions several thousand dollars' worth of Celery can be raised on a single acre. The book is thoroughly complete in every detail, and is embellished with many helpful and original illustrations. Our space allows us to give but a glimpse of the table of contents -.—Generalities— .\n Intro- duction—The F.arly Celery— The Nr.w Celery Citlture— Where the Profit Lies -The Irrigation Problem— The Fall and Winter Crop— Winter Storage- Market 'jig Prolilems — Varieties, etc., etc. Fully Illustrated. Price 30 Cents. CAN BE ORDERED FROM THE PUBLISHERS. OR ANY BOOK STORE IN THE UNITED STATES. f^ abbage and f^ auliflower for p rofit. BY J. M. LUPTON. A new book written from a successful grower's point of view. Mr. LuPTON has made the study of these important crops his hfe-work, and no man is better able to impart the secrets of successful Cabbage and Cauliflower culture. His bright little volume is a lucid exposition of facts, set forth in a clear, practical the result of t'. ~ ^ manner. years of experience and study. It cannot fail to interest and prove a valu- able aid to the farmer and gardener. Synopsis of Con- tents. — Introduction, — Soil and Preparation, — Planting and Cultivation, — Fertilizers, with form- ulas adapted to these crops, — Insect Enemies and How to Deal with Them, — Storing for Win- ter Marketing, — Profit and Loss, — Notes on Va- rieties. With this new treatise, complete in every detail, brightened with original illustrations from photographic views taken in the fields, success in growing these profitable crops is reasonably assured. Fully niustrated. Price 50 Cents. CAN BE ORDERED FROM THE PUBLISHERS, OR ANY BOOK STORE IN THE UNITED STATES. PUBLISHED BY W.ATLEE BURPEE 2i Co. PHILADELPHIA PUBLISHED BY W. ATLEE BURPEE & CO.. PHILADELPHIA, PA. AN IMPORTANT BOOK FOR FARMERS. MANURES: How to Make and How to Use Them. A Practical Treatise on the Chemistry of Manures and Manure Making. Written specially for the use of farmers, horticulturists, and market gardeners, by Frank W. Sempers, Director of the Fordhook Chemical Laboratoi'y. We waut to place a copy of tliis excellent new book in the home of every farmer in America. It is a book for which farmers have waited for years, telling them what they want to know about manures and the management of land in a way that can be clearly luukTstood. it is in every .sense a farmer's book, written for tlie men who plow and sow and reaj). The farmer's busi- ness is to grow profitable cro|>s without impairment to his soil. This book tells in a jdain way how to do it. 218 pages. Four large editions of this book, so important to farmers, have already gone all over this country, and, in fact, to all Sarts of the world, and still the emand grows greater as its value becomes more widely known. Have you this ])ook ? If not, order a copy to-day. in Thick Paper, 50 Cents, Postpaid. HOW TO MAKE AND HOWTOUSETHEM f PpShED BY ^"^ W.ATLEE BURPEE U? r Philadelphia. Elegantly Bound in Cloth, $1.00 INJURIOUS INSECTS AND THE USE OF INSECTICIDES. By Fkank W. Skmit.rs, Director of Fordhook Farm Laboratory. \ complete and conven- ient treatise on insects de- structive to Fruit, Field, and Trarden crops. Contains the hi test and best methods for l)reventing insect injuries and gives reliable formulas for making insecticides. Plainly written for the mil- lion, and filled with life-like illustrations which will greatly aid the farmer in identifying his insect foes. 216 Pages. Fully Illustrated. Price 50 Cents. American Agriculturist, 3fay, 1894 .•—" Eminently practical and useful." PosTOx Herald, April 5, iS9i .•—" Worth its weight in gold to every agriculturist." CAN BE ORDERED FROM THE PUBLISHERS, OR ANY BOOK STORE IN THE UNITED STATES. The Poultry Yard HOW TO FURNISH AND MANAGE IT. By W. Atlee Burpee. Fully illustrated. We have just issued aijother edition of this popular book, very ruuch ameDded, with up-to-the-times methods and usages. Besides the de- scriptioDS of the leading Land and Water Fowls, it also contains chapters on the Best Plans of Poultry Houses— How to Make In- cubators—Selection AND Mating oe Stock — What AND How TO Feed — General Management — French Method of Kill- ing — Dressing and Ship- ping Poultry— Eggs and Chickens — D irections for Caponizing with Plain Illustrations — Diseases with Tried and Proven Prescriptions — How TO Raise Good Tur- keys, etc., etc. Price in paper covers, handsomely designed, 50 cts. ; bound in cloth, 75 cts. , postpaid. CAN BE ORDERED FROM THE PUBLISHERS, OR ANY BOOK STORE IN THE UNITED STATES. PUBLISHED BY W. ATLEE BURPEE & CO., PHILADELPHIA, PA. How TO Cook Vegetables. BY MRS. S. T. RORER. Principal of the Philadelphia Cooking School, Author of Mrs. Korer's Cook Book, Etc. This new book, published by ns. has met -with suocess beyond onr most sanguine expectations. Every family wants a copy, as Mrs. Rorer is acknowJedgcd authority \\y thousands of the best housekeepers everywhere. As all the proof-sheets have been care- fully revised by her personally, "HOW TO COOK VEGETA- BLES" will he found thoroughly trustworthy. The recipes given have all been proven by Mi-s. Eorerfrom practical tests in the kitchen and on the table. ■>ricm l^ 5 -PRINCIPAL It is a book of 182 pages of the same size as T/te A'ifc/ien Garden, and gives niinierous recipes for cooking all vari- eties of vegetables in every style— luanj' of which will be new even to the most experi- enced housewives. As an illus- tration of how thoroughly tlie suV)jett is treated, we would mention that it gives forty ■ways of cooking potatoes, twenty-six of tomatoes, and twenty-two of corn. It also gives twenty-eight recipes for making Socps and thirty- seven recipes for Salads. Besides " How to Cook Vege- tables," it also tells numerous ways How to Pickle,— How TO Preserve Fruits,— How TO Can for Winter Use, as well as how to serve vegetables cold. An important supplement to the general scope of this treatise is the addition, also by Mrs. Korer, of nearly fifty complete Menus, for spring, summer, autumn, and winter. In all, it is a most complete book, that will prove really v;duahle to every progressive housewife, he copyright is owned by us, is not for sale, and ^r.\ ,PHIUADELPHIA\ This new book, of which . . ^, . can only be had asji Premium by those who purchase Seeds, Bulbs, or Plants from us. In'order to place it within the reach of all we offer the paper-cover edition entirely FREE as a Premium on an order amounting to $3.00. A copy substantially bound in cloth, for kitchen use, can be had free with an order for $5.00. PUBLISHED BY W. ATLEE BURPEE & CO., PHILADELPHIA, PA, A GRAND PAINTING OF Sweet Peas Size 13 X 16)4 inches, in Fourteen Colors. By Paul de Longpre. The great artist visited Fordhook Farm during mid- summer, when the large area of Sweet Peas gave rare beauty to our Trial Grounds. Amid these charming scenes, glowing with life and color and sweet with the delicate perfume of Sweet Peas, the famous painter of nature has caught the most elusive charms of leaf and flower, and transfigured them in imperishable life to his painting. This matchless specimen of the highest art has been reproduced in fourteen colors, making a picture that for chaste elegance it would be impossible to over- praise. So faithful has been the work of the lithographer that net even a trained critic could detect the difference from the original, except by the minutest examination. In this splendid painting are exhibited the latest and highest development in Sweet Peas, not in conventional colors, but in the living, vivid hues of nature. It is indeed a rare transcript from nature,— a dream in colors that should adorn the walls of every liome.^ In order that all may secure a copy of this dainty work of art we will sell it (to our customers) at lo cents per copy, mailed in a pasteboard tube; regular price 20 cents. W. ATLEE BURPEE & CO., Philadelphia, Pa. A POT-PLANT OF CUPID.— FiOin a r/i<>/>,(/,ii/,,'i. The First and Only Dwarf Sweet Pea, BURPEE'S "CUPID." GROWS ONLY FIVE INCHES HIGH! THE FLORAL WONDER OF THE AGE! CUPID,— the greatest novelty ever known in flowers, — has won the highest honors possible in Europe. We had plants pown iu pots exhil)ite(l at the incoting of The Royal Hor= ticultural Society, in T.ondon, Enj^land, wlieie, hj/ nnanimoiis voiv of the C(»iniuif(t\ it received an Award of Merit — the highest liouor that can l)e conlened upon a new variety. "We also exhib- ited in Paris, France, on Julj' 11, 1895, at the' Societe National d' Horticulture, where it received a First=class Certificate, as a distinct nocclii/ of surpassing merit. "CI IPIO " ^^*^ foliage is very dark green; blossoms pure waxy- * white, of uiiequaled substance, and full size. Tfie plant does not grow over five inchi's high, and never more than twelve to fifteen inches in diameter. The stems are about four inclies long, bearing two or three blossoms, all very near the end of the stem. It is a wonderfully free >)lnr)nier, and carpets the grorind icith a mass of white from May until November. In regular=size packets (each containin;.; twenty seeds), per pkt. 25 cts.; five pkts. for $1.00; twelve pkts. for $2.00, postpaid, by mail, to any address. In half=size packets (ten seeds each), per pkt. 15 cts.; two pkts. for 25 cts.; ten pkts. for $1.00. ORDER TO=DAY fmni the Introducers, W. ATLEE BURPEE & CO., PHILADELPHIA, PA. BURPEE'S FARM ANNUAL FOR 1896. Larger and more Complete than Ever Before, this is now a handsome BOOK of 184 pages, with elegant colored plates and hundreds of illustrations from na- ture, deserving its well-known reputation as ** The Leading American Seed Catalogue.** While the price is ten cents (less than actual cost in quarter-million editions), it is mailed FREE to all planters who intend to purchase. Beautifully bound, the cover, painted in ten colors, appro- priately shows on front our new Dwarf Sweet Pea, Cupid, the floral wonder of the age^ which grows only five inches high, completely covered with bloom. The back pictures a portion of FoRDHOOK Farm, above which is displayed the well-known motto, ♦* BURPEE'S SEEDS GROW." Within is presented a feast of good things — spread over 184 PAGES, all well worth reading.— An interesting account of Fordhook — the model seed farm of America — is followed by a review of useful Books on garden and farm topics, — free as premiums. Then come the Choicest Vege- tables, best strains of each, including rare Novelties of unusual merit; Improved Farm Seeds and Finest Flower Seeds, including many novelties of rich beauty ; summer-flow- ering Bulbs, and the celebrated Scott Koses and other se- lected Plants, such as cannot be had of the local florist, but which can be sent safely by mail. W. ATLEE BURPEE & CO., PHILADELPHIA, PA, PUBLISHED BY W. At^ee 5urpee & Co., PH119ADEI9PHIA. RD-83 >4 ^.x^ ^ ^i.^* .^'\ * r^- ^ - «^. v^ ♦'^ .v-^ V "^..^^ * A ^^ %#» --^i^. ^> !y° •^<^^. « < '^^ o • """. %<^ r '^^.4'' /% -■■: '\ /% ■■'''■■X 0« / .*' , ,1 ^^^ .^^'^r. -J-. ^■:*» O f> ^ -p * f ;. - .• \p. "^ e / i ♦ \3 -o\-,* A ^. ■•:^^'' ^^^ ^c^, ^^^^^ ^ ^ %, DOBBS BROS. LIBRARY BINOINO NOV 81 A^