POTATOES. 139 



in a furrow, with the hills some two feet apart. The furrow 

 was quite deep, and I put in it for a fertilizer, a shovel-full of 

 partially decayed buckwheat straw and old hay. It had 

 arrived at such a state of decomposition that it was fine and 

 very loose. I dropped the potatoes and covered them quite 

 deeply. In hoeing, the ground was left very nearly level. I 

 cannot say whether the old straw had anything to do with it, 

 but when I came to dig the potatoes, I found them the clean- 

 est and nicest I ever raised, and as large. 



Mr. Hart, of Cornwall. My own experience in relation to 

 potatoes has led me to three conclusions : first, tliat it is 

 necessary to select pure seed ; second, that it is beneficial to 

 change the seed often ; and, tiiird, that we should adapt the 

 cultivation to the habits of each variety. For instance, in the 

 Early Rose, if the cultivation is shallow, a part of the potato 

 will be exposed to the sun and the light, and will turn green 

 and be very much injured. My own practice the past season 

 has been like this : One section of my piece of potatoes was 

 planted with Early Rose, the next with Peachblow, the next 

 with Colebrook Seedliiig, the next with a mixture of Oolebrook 

 Seedling and the Dover. Last year, I planted my Early Rose 

 shallow, and probably one third of the crop was ruined for 

 table use from its exposure. This year, I plowed a deep fur- 

 row, and put them into the bottom of the furrow, and in hoe- 

 ing, I instructed my hands to cover them well. The conse- 

 quence was, there was no exposure, and not a single tuber 

 was injured. In part of the hills I put in, just for experiment, 

 perhaps a table spoonful of Coe's superphosphate, which pro- 

 duced a smooth potato, as smooth as an egg, and of uniform 

 size. There were hardly any small potatoes, and none of them 

 too large for table use. 



The Peachblow is a potato that, with me, grows deeper in 

 the soil, but I planted it the same as the Early Rose. The 

 tops grew enormously, and blossomed like a flower bed. The 

 produce from them was a little over half what it was from the 

 Early Rose. 



Now I am going to touch upon another point, that may call 

 out the experience of others ; and that is, in relation to the 



