283 On Scooping Potatoes for Seed, Aug. 



In fprlng 1801, when the circumdance of fcooping out the 

 eye came to be firft talked of, I confidered the fubjedl with par- 

 ticular attention, and was fo far convinced of its utility, that I 

 planted upwards of three acres with fcooped feed ; and faved 

 nearly two thirds of the whole wei^rht. * My expedations 

 were fully realized-, for I had an excellent crop, fomewhat more 

 than fixty bolls per Scots acre, weight 42 lib. Englilh per 

 peck. 



I planted only a few cut in the common form, to fee if there 

 was a difference or not; and, if a difference, whether it was in 

 favour of fcooping, or common cutting; and the confequence 

 which followed, made me conclude in favour of the former. 



My ground was prepared in the ordinary way ; was three 

 times ploughed; and drilled at the diltance of 2\ feet, the dung 

 being fpread in the drill along with the feed. I have continued 

 to cut all my feed in that way ever hnce; and though my crops 

 have not thefe two lad years been fo prolific, it is owing to the 

 feafons, not the feed ; for they were not inferior to thofe of my 

 neighbours. Having faid fo much in favour of fcooping out the 

 eye, contrary to what has been repeatedly reported, it will be ne- 

 ceffary to ftate where, or upon . what grounds I found my argu- 

 ment ; which I fliall do in a?, few words as pofhble. 



Every perfon will allow, that there are fmall fibres conne(n;ed 

 with the geim — fo imperceptibly fmall indeed, that fome of 

 them cannot be difcovercd with the naked eye — which are the 

 caufe of vegetation. Thefe fmall fibres fpring from the centre 

 of the potato. The greater the length of thole fibres that can 

 be preftrrved, or left attached to the germ, there is the more 

 certainty of the plants taking root in the foil; and I do infifl:» 

 that the dormant part of the potato, ab{lra£\ed from the germ 

 and its -appendages, can have no effc(ft on its vegetative prin- 

 ciples. Like all other feeds committed to its parent earth, that 

 part which is not of a vegetative nature very foon decays, and 

 leaves the plant, in its earliefl infancy, to be nouriflied and brought 

 to perfection by the fame caufes which produce vegetation in 

 every other fpecies of plant. 



Take, therefore, two potatoes of equal fize, fay 2\ inch in 

 diameter. With the fcooping inftrument defcribed, take fix 

 feeds from the one; with a common knife, take fix feeds from 



the 



* I ufed inftraments for cutting, of difF^vent conllruftions ; but the 

 ont I moll approve of, Is made in form of a punch fpoon, ^ inch widc^ 

 4 deep, rather narrow to the bottom. With fuch an inftrument, yoi^ 

 will tafily cut out the feed | inch d?ep. 



