. Productive agriculture . e water from coming in contactwith the leaves of the plant. Sub-irrigation is usually employedin forcing lettuce. Potatoes. — Origin and History. The potato is of Americanorigin, and at the time of the discovery of America was a domesticplant in parts of South America, Mexico, and in the southernpart of the United States. About 1585 or 1586 potatoes wereintroduced into Europe, and soon became an important cropin Great Britain. They are grown so extensively in Irelandthat in 1846, when potatoes were destroyed by bhght, it causedthe Great Famine, during which many Iris
. Productive agriculture . e water from coming in contactwith the leaves of the plant. Sub-irrigation is usually employedin forcing lettuce. Potatoes. — Origin and History. The potato is of Americanorigin, and at the time of the discovery of America was a domesticplant in parts of South America, Mexico, and in the southernpart of the United States. About 1585 or 1586 potatoes wereintroduced into Europe, and soon became an important cropin Great Britain. They are grown so extensively in Irelandthat in 1846, when potatoes were destroyed by bhght, it causedthe Great Famine, during which many Irishmen came to furnish more food for direct table use than any othercrop in the world, except rice. Three hundred and eighty-ninemilUon bushels of potatoes, valued at $i66,cxx),ooo, were pro-duced in the United States in 1909. The average yield bushels an acre. Management of Potatoes. A rich sandy loain is best suitedto potato production. They should be planted early in the VEGETABLE GARDENING 351. Fig. 164. — The Colorado potato-beetle. Forerunner of modern methodsof insect control. spring, and be cultivated as soon as they come up. Level cultiva-tion is generally the best, until the last cultivation, when it iswell to ridge the soil up to the potato rows. The potatoes arethus protected and the plants are prevented from falling down. 352 PRODUCTIVE AGRICULTURE Potatoes a little above average size should be selected forseed. HUls vary in the number of potatoes produced. Seedpotatoes should be taken only from hills that are Fraser says that a piece of potato weighing three ounces, oras large as a good-sized egg, and having at least one good eye,is most profitable to plant. Experimental evidence seems toindicate that planting single eye pieces and quarters of potatoesis not as profitable as planting halves. And it has not beenproved that planting whole potatoes produces larger yields thanplanting halves. If potatoes have a tendency to produ
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