Potato
Anybody can grow the potato, after a fashion. But in order to grow it well it must receive more attention than is generally given it. It must have a rich and mellow soil—a sandy one is preferable—and the best of cultivation.
This is one of the vegetables that require considerable room, therefore it is not adapted to small-garden culture. But when space will admit of it it should always be grown, because it is one of the garden products that can be used in so many ways that the housewife finds it one of the things she cannot well get along without.
Seed is obtained by cutting old potatoes in pieces, each piece having an "eye" or growing-point. The pieces should be planted in hills, four or five pieces to a hill, with hills two feet apart. Cover to a depth of four inches.
If plants are not watched while small, insects are likely to attack them. Spray with Nicoticide infusion. Later in the season the Colorado beetle will be quite likely to put in its appearance. Then use Paris green, either in infusion, or mixed with land-plaster, and applied in a dry state while the plants are moist from dew. If any fungous disease is discovered, spray with Bordeaux mixture. All these insecticides can be procured from druggists or dealers in agricultural goods, or they can be obtained from the dealer from whom you buy seed.
It is well to plant this vegetable for a succession. One of the best early varieties is Beauty of Hebron, which matures in eight to ten weeks from planting. Early Rose is everywhere a favorite, as is Early Ohio. Rural New-Yorker is a standard late variety. Burbank's Seedling is excellent as an intermediate sort. All the varieties named are of superior flavor, very productive, and sure to give complete satisfaction.