Potato Culture in West Virginia by Arthur L. Dacy combines a regional agricultural study with an outline of cultivation. West Virginia University’s Agricultural Experiment Station issued it at Morgantown as Bulletin No. 140 in April 1913. Its two stated subjects are possibilities as a truck crop and essentials of culture.
A regional case for potato growing
Dacy begins by asking farmers to consider potatoes for table use and planting stock. He argues that demand was not being fully met by production within the state and that the crop could fit existing farm systems.
The early tables compare potatoes with other leading West Virginia crops. County acreage and yield figures, a distribution map and information about shipments provide the evidence for this regional argument.
These pages are useful for agricultural history because they connect a crop manual with the economy of a particular place. The figures describe the period under discussion; they should not be read as current market information or a forecast of profitability.
Table potatoes and seed purposes
The bulletin considers growing potatoes for planting stock as well as for the table. It discusses the demand for seed potatoes and compares locally grown material with stock obtained from other states.
Reported trials and tables form part of this comparison. The author uses them to support his view of the opportunities available to West Virginia growers, while also considering the need for reliable quality and suitable growing conditions.
For readers of old seed catalogues or regional farm reports, this section supplies useful context. It shows that the origin and management of planting stock were commercial questions as well as matters of cultivation.
Rotation and the condition of the soil
The practical portion follows the crop through its main operations. It begins with the place of potatoes in a rotation, the choice of soil and preparation of the ground.
Dacy connects potato production with the use of leguminous crops and the maintenance of the land. The bulletin therefore treats a potato field as part of a farm sequence rather than an isolated patch planted in the same way every year.
The discussion distinguishes soils suited to different purposes and emphasizes drainage and preparation. These passages provide a historical framework for comparing how regional authors adapted general potato advice to local circumstances.
Planting stock, planting and cultivation
The bulletin proceeds through the selection and preparation of seed potatoes, planting and subsequent cultivation. The order makes it possible to follow the decisions that lead from retained or purchased stock to a growing crop.
Illustrations accompany the practical material. They help explain the equipment and field operations described, while the text gives the author’s reasoning about the care needed for successful production.
This is useful to readers investigating traditional farm practice. Tools, working methods and assumptions about labour belong to the bulletin’s date, and can be compared with those in contemporary manuals from other regions.
Crop protection and handling
Disease and insect problems receive attention as part of the cultivation account. The historical control recommendations should be distinguished from current treatment advice. Their main value here is in documenting what the station was teaching growers at the time.
The later discussion carries the crop toward harvesting and handling. Together with the early market analysis, it links the physical work of production with the condition and destination of the potatoes being offered for sale.
The bulletin’s compact format is helpful for readers who want a regional overview without beginning with a large textbook. It combines statistical evidence, practical topics and illustrations in a relatively short publication.
Audience and scan
This free ebook suits gardening historians, researchers of Appalachian agriculture and readers comparing potato culture across regions. It preserves a specific argument about West Virginia conditions and a period outline of the work required to grow the crop.
The PDF contains 38 digital pages, including covers and preliminary matter. It includes tables, a map and photographs, with yellowed paper and uneven print. Enlarge numerical columns and small captions, and use printed page numbers alongside PDF positions when locating a passage.
Book details
- Author: Arthur L. Dacy
- Publisher: West Virginia University Agricultural Experiment Station, Morgantown
- Year: 1913
- Edition: Agricultural Experiment Station Bulletin No. 140; April 1913
- Digital length: 38 PDF pages
- Language: English
- File size: 2.62 MB
