U7 



The same remarks, however, are equally applicable to all other kinds of 

 roots, for according to Liebig, " Fallow -turnips, cabbage, beets, (fee, are 

 considered to belong to a class which impoverish the soil." 



There are numerous methods of cultivating the potato. Ireland, 

 though it cannot be called the father-land, yet is well entitled to the 

 appellation of foster-land to this in\"aluable root. In that interesting- 

 country potato-culture is, in many places, performed with the spade, 

 upon beds a few feet broad, upon which potatoes are laid promiscuous- 

 ly, after manure has been spread on the surface. The potatoes are then 

 covered with earth, dug from the trenches. When the plants have ap- ' 

 peared a little above ground, they are again covered with earth derived 

 from the same source. This process of earthing up is continued until 

 the plants blossom, when it is discontinued. This is called the " lazy- 

 bed-svstem." It is still practised in several parts of Ireland, in some 

 counties in England, and the Western Islands of Scotland. This plan 

 is univei-sally condemned by the best cultivators, and can only be applica- 

 ble on the small farms of Ireland, or other places, where the land is 

 tilled by spade husbandly, and where manual labor is at discount in the 

 market. Another popular way of planting potatoes in Ireland, is by the 

 method called " hihbingP The operator with his right hand and left foot 

 thrusts his spade a few inches into the ground in a sloping direction, then 

 raises it a little up, and with the left hand throws into the vacancy be- 

 hind the spade, a potato set, which he takes from a small bag suspended, 

 from his neck. The spade is instantly withdrawn, the tuber is buried, 

 and in this way the potatoes are planted broadca.st or in rows with ama- 

 zing celerity. The general plan in Ireland now, is to plow the land in 

 ridges which are levelled with the spade, the potatoes are laid on the 

 surface and then covered with earth from the furrows. They are earth- 

 ed up once or twice during the season. 



The original practice in Scotland was by dibbUng in rows about thir- 

 ty inches apart. The manure was plowed in broadcast, and the potatoes 

 dibbled in every third furrow. This method, though somewhat tedious, 

 was excellently adapted for preventing the drouth from affecting the ma- 

 nure and the tender roots of the plants, which is invariably the case in 

 drills ridged up in an exposed position. Sometimes the method is prac- 

 ticed by women and children following the plow and dropping the seed 

 into every third furrow. When this is the case, the plowing must be 



