Mechanical potato harvesting: Studies conducted in Kern County indicated less injury to potatoes when harvested by machine than by hand harvesting

Three varieties of potatoes–White Rose, Pontiac, and Kennebec–were harvested mechanically to study the operational efficiency of the machines and to make a comparison between the amount of damage to the potatoes by mechanical and by hand harvesting. Six two-row, direct harvesting type–digging and loading in one operation–machines of the same make were used. The harvesters were pulled by track type tractors of 40-15 horsepower but had their own engines or operating the harvester mechanisms. The studies were made in three fields near Arvin and in two fields near Edison.