[ 4$ ] 



period ; yet this, at the beft, is but a trifling acquifition, and 

 probably can never in any cafe be worth the expence ; ef- 

 pecially when it is alfo adverted to, that the fecond produce 

 of potatoes thus gained are always bulbs of fo fmall a fize, 

 as to be of very little value in proportion to their weight. 

 It may be a fatisfa£tion, however, to fome to know, that in 

 cafe a ftem of a particular kind, of which one has very 

 few, be pulled up by accident before the potatoes are fit for 

 feed, it need not be altogether loft, but that by replanting 

 it the kind may be ftill preferred. 



Where a few early potatoes are wanted, the moft ©eco- 

 nomical practice is to pick out with the fingers (which 

 may be eafily done in a well-drefled foil) thofe bulbs that 

 have attained the fize fit for ufe, leaving the items in their 

 place, witn the fmall potatoes upon them to grow till they 

 alfo attain a fize fit for being ufed« 



§. II. 



The foregoing experiments were all made with 

 one kind of potatoes j nor have I taken notice above 

 of any other varieties. But as there is a very great 

 diverfity in this refpect, and as the properties of 

 one kind are often very different from thofe of an- 

 other, our knowledge of the value, and moft proper 

 mode of cultivating this plant, muft be very incom- 

 pleat, until the farmer fhall know the different 

 weight of crop, &c. that he could obtain by cul- 

 tivating any one kind in preference to any other; for 

 different forts are known to vary very much from 

 each other in regard to prolificacy, as well as in 



feveral 



