Anita Sizemore, age 17, of Charleston, W.Va., for her question:

HOW ARE SEED POTATOES PLANTED?

Potatoes used for planting are specially grown for this purpose. They are called certified potatoes since they have a trueness to type and are also free from all disease.

Sometimes whole seed potatoes are planted, but often they are first cut into small sections, with each piece containing at least one bud, called an eye.

Potatoes are planted from two to five inches deep and spaced from six to 16 inches apart in a long row. The rows are usually between 30 and 36 inches apart. In large farming operations, potatoes are planted by machines that bury between two and four rows at a time.

Potatoes take between 90 to 120 days to mature. In Northern states they are planted in May and June and harvested in September and October. In the South they can be planted as early as March.