AN ENCYCLOPAEDIA 
OF HORTICULTURE. 205 
Potato—continued. 
country, where the soil is also of a different description. 
The product of any given variety, for instance, may be 
of-an indifferent quality in a heavy soil; transfer sets 
from this to another locality, where the conditions are 
altogether changed, and the results will, doubtless, be 
of a favourably marked description. In the changing 
of sets for planting, attention should therefore be directed 
to procuring them from a soil and neighbourhood where 
the surroundings are such as to effect a change as widely 
varied as may be practicable. 
PLANTING AND GENERAL CULTIVATION. Potato plant- 
ing is most extensively practised in spring, from February 
until towards the end of April, when the work should 
be completed for the year. Much depends on the locality 
and the state of the soil in different seasons; this latter 
would be found very variable at any given date, and the 
sets never start and grow evenly unless the soil is in a 
proper working condition at planting-time. From the 
beginning until the end of March, according as circum- 
stances may permit, is the best period for inserting the 
main crops; those which are forwarded by being allowed 
to sprout first in a cool shed or room, must be reserved 
until towards the last, unless the situation in which they are 
placed is safely protected from frost. Autumn planting has 
been recommended, the tubers to be inserted deep in the 
soil; but this is now generally believed to be disadvan- 
tageous, and is seldom resorted to. Respecting the distance 
apart, both in rows and between the sets, much depends on 
the variety, the rich or poor nature of the soil, and the 
amount of exposure to light which the plants are afterwards 
likely to receive. For dwarf sorts, a distance of about 
15in. between rows, and Qin. between sets, will be found 
ample; tall, strong-growing sorts, in good ground, will 
often cover all the space, if planted in rows from 2éft. 
to 3ft. apart; but it is best not to allow more than about 
8in. or 9in. between the sets, and these should be placed 
at a uniform depth of from 4in. to 6in. The sets are 
planted in various ways, but mostly in trenches cut with 
a spade, or in holes made with a dibber; in field culture, 
they are often placed in furrows made with a plough. 
Trenches are the best for garden crops; but the work 
by this system does not proceed so rapidly as it does 
when dibbers are used. A tolerably uniform depth 
may be secured by cutting a trench for each line as 
planting proceeds; the soil is left loose and open around 
the tubers, which is much preferable; and, when the 
whole is completed, all trampling on the newly-dug ground 
has been avoided. The use of a dibber affords a more 
expeditious mode of planting, and is extensively prac- 
tised. When trenches are to be cut, a sufficient width 
of ground is prepared for each row; a line is then laid, 
and the ground cut out to the proper depth; this is 
filled in, after the sets are arranged in the bottom, and 
another space similarly prepared. By the other method 
of planting, holes are made next the line, with a dibber, at 
the proper distance apart. Another plan adopted with 
the dibber, is to use a strong one, about the length of 
a spade, and provided with a cross tread at about 6in. 
from the pointed end; this is chiefly practised in fields, 
or in large, open spaces, which have been prepared by 
ploughing or digging beforehand ; a second person follows, 
and drops in the sets, and the holes may be filled in 
afterwards with a hoe. Amongst the chief objections to 
the use of dibbers, are those of treading the ground in 
making holes and planting, and the rendering of soil 
around the sets too compact by the necessary pressure; 
the sets are also invariably situated at unequal depths. 
Dibber-planting is less objectionable in light than in 
heavy or moist lands; but it may be noted that the last- 
named situations are not so preferable for the crop 
_ The subsequent culture consists chiefly in keeping 
the ground loose and free from weeds by lightly forking 
_eottagers, for their Potato crops. Of these, perhaps, pig- 
| an excellent ingredient for improving heavy land which 
Potato—continued. 
or hoeing amongst the plants, and in earthing-up the 
soil in due course. The chief use of earthing-up is that 
of covering the tubers, which are, in reality, a sort of 
underground stems, and are formed on roots quite away 
from the set which was inserted. Where close planting is 
adopted, there is insufficient soil between rows to allow of a 
good ridge being drawn to each. Tubers also require 
covering to keep them from ‘being exposed to light, which 
renders them unfit for food, although well adapted for 
planting. For this reason, therefore, the ridges should 
be made as wide on the top as possible, in order that 
the tubers may not protrude; by this arrangement, too, 
the top surface will be well situated for collecting 
rain water, and transmitting it to the roots, instead of 
allowing it to pass off. Earthing-up must be attended to 
so soon as the plants are sufficiently advanced; if delayed, 
the young tubers will have formed, and these will scarcely 
escape without injury. 
Soil, Manure, Fe. A good, friable loam, rather dry than 
otherwise, is that best suited for Potatoes. Wherever 
the land is naturally wet and heavy, or improperly 
drained, the quality of tubers is sure to be unfavourably 
affected. From rich garden ground, frequently and heavily 
manured, the quality is seldom so good as from a situation 
more exposed, such as an open field. In connection with 
many gardens, provision is made for growing the main 
crops on farm land, and limiting the garden to early 
supplies; where this is impracticable, late varieties 
should be relegated to the most open position at com- 
mand, such as may often be selected inside a garden 
inclosure, yet outside the portion surrounded by walls. 
Dry and wet seasons have a material influence in connec- 
tion with soils and the Potato crop; in heavy lands, the 
latter may be abundant and of good quality after a hot, 
summer; while in a wet one the plants will 
succumb very readily to the disease, and the tubers will 
be of a close, non-floury nature. On the other hand, 
a crop procured from soil comparatively light, will 
invariably be of good quality in any season, but will 
be less in quantity when the seasons are dry. Early 
varieties have, of necessity, to be grown in kitchen 
gardens, because of the requisite shelter being afforded, 
and borders where the soil is rather light and partially 
elevated afford the best position for meeting their require- 
ments. A newly-turned-up soil is admirably adapted for 
a crop of Potatoes; much better, in fact, than when it 
has long been worked and highly manured. The tubers 
require a considerable quantity of moisture, but it must — 
on no account be of a stagnant nature. In elevated 
land, for example, which has been devoted to grass, and 
then has been put under cultivation, the possibilities of 
stagnant water accumulating are remote, and the soil 
becomes naturally friable and open from aération. 
There are many manures which are in constant use 
for the Potato crop, and, unless the ground is fairly good 
in itself, one at least has to be used; but the produce 
is considered of better flavour, and less likely to suffer 
severely from the attacks of disease, where the applica- 
tion of manures is not necessarily of too frequent occur- 
rence. The manure most commonly used is that obtained 
from a farmyard; it may be dug in equally all over the 
surface, or where the ground is very poor; the spreading 
of some in trenches, either beneath or above the sets, is 
the method more generally practised. One of the several 
manures which are mixed together in the farmyard is 
often the only one procurable by cultivators, especially 
dung is most commonly met with; this should be well 
intermixed with the soil, or previously incorporated with 
a heap of refuse, &c., to be added as a compost for 
digging-in when planting. Partially-decayed leaf soil is — 
has of necessity to be devoted to Potato culture, and so 
