226 



THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



weeds kept down, but not earthed up 

 on any account, and as soon as any 

 were fit for use as new potatoes, I 

 should begin to dig every other row 

 for the table, leaving the standing rows 

 just three feet asunder, and between 

 these I should manure the ground and 

 fork it over moderately deep, and at 

 once plant it with some kinds of winter 

 greens, or cauliflower, or broccoli, from 

 the seed bed, but I should not wait 

 till a large breadth was cleared, but 

 finish each row at once, as I got it 

 vacant; and.the benefit of that would be, 

 that I should be able to draw the lar- 

 gest plants from the seed-bed, which 

 would leave room for the others to 

 strengthen, and give me a succession 

 of heads, instead of a glut all at once. 

 When the time came for taking up the 

 rows that were left standing, the haulm 

 would be just meeting across, and 

 choking the broccoli a bit ; but I should 

 have all the potatoes up before any 

 harm was done, and when they were 

 cleared off, there would be the rows 

 of green stuff three feet apart — not an 

 inch too much for them to do well, as 

 they would show before October, by 

 shaking hands across the intervening 

 spaces. By the other plan, I should 

 plant the strong growing sorts for the 

 main crop, three feet apart, and eight 

 inches between the sets ; hoe and 

 weed well, and take up when quite ripe. 

 If planted early, they would come off 

 in time for turnips or winter greens, 

 and so keep the ground briskly at 

 work, for if well done by, it derives 

 no benefit from idleness. 



To obtain early crops of potatoes, 

 large sets are the best. In these, only 

 two or three eyes should be allowed to 

 remain, and the sets should be placed 

 with their leading buds upwards. The 

 sets should be prepared previous to 

 planting, by placing them in a layer, 

 in a warm room exposed to the light, 

 and with a little straw shaken over 

 them ; and as soon as shoots appear, 

 remove the covering without breaking 

 the shoots, and after a few days' expo- 

 sure to the light, when the shoots 

 become green and hearty, plant them 

 in shallow drills in light rich soil, and 

 cover with litter to protect them from 

 frost. During fine days, let the litter 

 be withdrawn, and returned again be- 



fore night, until all danger of frost is 

 past, then hoe between them, and give 

 liquid manure, if the weather is very 

 dry, and the crop will be not only 

 early, but heavy and fine. 



For several seasons past, I have 

 grown early Ash-leaved Kidneys as 

 follows : — The ground is trenched 

 and laid up in a slope to the south. 

 At the latter end of January, the 

 trenches or drills are made a foot 

 deep, and half decayed dung thrown 

 in along the drills to a depth of six 

 inches, and quite hot from the heap. 

 An inch or two of mould is then 

 drawn over the dung, and the sprouted 

 sets very tenderly laid in, and just 

 covered with two inches of earth. A 

 few days after, a little more earth is 

 drawn over them, and so on till the 

 middle of April, when the shoots begin 

 to push through. They are now dres- 

 sed over with charred rubbish saved 

 for the purpose, consisting of wood- 

 ashes, small fragments of charcoal, 

 burnt earth, &c., the produce of hedge- 

 cuttings and scarifyings of the soil. 

 This is slightly heaped over the line 

 of each drill, so as just to keep the 

 sprouts from the daylight, and as they 

 push" through again, a little litter is 

 used till the second week in May, 

 when the litter is withdrawn, the 

 plants hoed between, and then left to 

 grow as they please. They do not, on 

 the whole, get more than five or six 

 inches of covering, and the air is admit- 

 ted freely to their roots by means of the 

 hoe, and the result is, that they come 

 in very early and very good, and the 

 ground, when dug over, is in prime 

 condition for a crop requiring generous 

 well worked stuff to grow in. 



A few more remarks, and we shall 

 have done with potatoes. The practice 

 of mowing down the tops, is very 

 commonly practiced, but is injurious 

 in practice and ridiculous in theory, 

 and as a check to the disease, quite 

 unavailing ; indeed, the more likely 

 to hasten decay, by the exposure of 

 the flowing sap to the atmosphere, and 

 preventing the tubers from getting rid 

 of watery matter through the help of 

 the foliage. In taking up, have them 

 sorted at once, and use the small first, 

 after selecting whai you want for 

 seed, and store none but the largest, 



