26 



IRISH GARDENING. 



Potato Growing in Allotments and 

 Small Gardens. 



At Llu! present time many liuuselioldta-s will be 

 especially anxious to curtail their domestic 

 expenses by devotiny increased attention to the 

 cultivation of vegetables in their gardens and 

 allotments, and all available land may in some 

 cases be used lor growing vegetables. In such 

 circumstances few vegetables can be planted more 

 profitably than the potato, and the follow ing 

 suggestions are offered for the benefit of those 

 who cannot devote more thr^n about an acre of 

 land to this vegetable. 



The Soil. — Growers on a small scale can seldom 

 choose the soil in which to plant, but they may' do 

 much to enable such soil as they have to produce a 

 satisfactory crop, i^otatoes do best in moderately 

 light soil with good drainage. When heavy land 

 must be used it should be thoroughly dug over 

 during the autumn and winter, and should be 

 prevented from becoining water- logged by being 

 thrown up in ridges or narrow stretches it neees- 

 &ary. Twitch (couch grass), docks, nettles, or 

 s.milar perennial weeds should be forked out, and 

 if there is any reason to suspect that leather 

 jackets (grubs of the daddy long-legs), wire- 

 worms (grubs of the click beetles), or millepedes 

 (also known as false wireworms) are present in 

 large numbers, the land should be repeatedly 

 turned over as far as the weather permits. If 

 the land is sandy or open in texture it may be 

 improved by adding " humus," that is anything 

 in the nature of dead leaves or decaying vegetable 

 matter. Impoverished land should be enriched 

 with stable or farmyard manure, which may be 

 dug in during autumn or winter, or before plant- 

 ing in spring. 



Lime should not be applied in large quantities 

 to land on which potatoes are to be the next crop, 

 as it may induce scab. Nevertheless small quan- 

 tities (say 7 ft. per rod) are beneficial in rich 

 garden soils ; and on heavy soils, or soils that have 

 lain in grass for some years, 14' lb. of lime per rod 

 may be applied. Lime corrects acidity and 

 improves the texture of clay {.see Leaflet No. 170). 



Time of Planting. — If the soil is in reasonably 

 good condition, potatoes may be planted as soon 

 as mild weather arrives in spring. If, however, 

 wet weather has made the preparation of the soil 

 difticult, planting should be deferred for a time. 

 It is better to plant at the end of April with the 

 land in goud condition than early in .March with 

 tlie land in bad order. 



In a very few districts potatoes may be planted 

 in February, but March and April are the usual 

 months, the former for the early varieties, the 

 latter for the main crop. 



Selection and Preparation of " Seed." — 

 Seed potatoes of a suitable size should be procured, 

 or saved from the previous crop, provided it has 

 been a satisfactory one. It is undesirable to plant 

 the very small potatoes known as chats, or the 

 largest tubers, except in the case of first early 

 varieties. In the case of eaiiies, seed potatoes 

 should not as a rule be cut. As potatoes lose 

 their vitality if grown continuously in the same 

 locality, frequent change of seed is recomuLended, 

 and experience has shown that it is better to 

 obtain seed tubers from a district farther north 

 than that in which they are to be planted. It is 

 customary with the best growers to procure new 



seed every alternate year from Scotland ; in recent 

 trials, however, Irish potatoes have sometimes 

 given as good results as Scotch. In the warmest 

 and driest districts a change is desirable every 

 year. 



All potatoes intended for seed should be care- 

 fully '■ boxed." lioxing is done by placing the 

 seed potatoes in layers in shallow boxes, and 

 keeping them in a dry shed or other place where 

 they are exposed to light and air but not to frost. 

 They then " green," and ultimately form two or 

 three short strong shoots which produce more 

 vigorous plants than potatoes which have been 

 kept in the dark till they are jilanted. Large 

 growers are often unable to box the later varieties 

 owing to want of space, but small gx'owers are 

 advised to box all seed potatoes, though it is more 

 important to box the early than the late varieties. 



Diseased potatoes should on no account be 

 planted. 



Manurinc;. — The potato is a gross feeder, and 

 a liberal supply of soluble plant food is necessary 

 for the production of a large crop. When it can 

 be obtained, perhaps the best source of such food 

 is farmyard manure, or, failing that, town stable 

 manure. W'hen such is available it should be 

 used at the rate of 1.5 to 20 tons per acre — say 

 2 to 2i cwt. per rod. ^A large wheelbarrow holds 

 about 1 cwt.) On heavy land it may be useful to 

 apply the dung when digging the ground in 

 autumn or winter, but on very light soils dung, 

 moistened if necessary, may best be applied 

 shortly before planting the tubers. 



Alternatively, 1] cwt. of dung per rod may be 

 applied, and at the time of planting f tl). to 1 lb. 

 of sulphate of ammonia, 2 lb. to 2f lb. of super- 

 phosphate and J lb. of sulphate of potash may be 

 added ; as the supply of the ordinary potash 

 manures will be very limited, ashes trom wood or 

 vegetable matter may be used instead, at the rate 

 of 2 11). per rod. 



If no dung is available good results will usually 

 be obtained by the application at planting time 

 of 1 1 lb. to 2 lb. of sulphate of ammonia, and 4 lb. 

 of superphosphate per rod, in additioii to twice 

 the quantity of ashes already mentioned. 



^Iethod of Planting. — The depth and dis- 

 tance apart at which potatoes should be planted 

 vary according to the soil and the climate, but 

 generally speaking potatoes should be planted 

 fairly shallow. Where the soil is liglit and friable, 

 they may be put in at a depth of from .5 to (J 

 inches, and iji heavy land about I iiu^hes. I'.arly 

 potatoes should be planted at the sliallewcr depth 

 in order that they may get the full l)ejiefit cf the 

 sun's warmth. 



The standard distance at which early varieties 

 should l)e planted from each other is 8 to 12 

 inches apart in the rows, and 2(1 to 24 inches 

 between the rows. Alid-season and late varieties 

 may be given 12 to 18 inches between the sets, 

 and 24 to 30 inches between the rows. 



General Cittivation during Growth. — It 

 should be the aim of all growers to keep the land 

 in which potatoes are growing frecjuently stirred 

 during the period of growth, and all weeds should 

 be kept down. The plants should be earthed up 

 the first time when they are about 6 in. high, and 

 a second time about three weeks later. 



This drawing up of the soil to the plants 

 proniotes the formation of tubers, prevents the 

 soil from getting too wet, and supports the haulm. 

 If the soil has a tendency to get wet the ridges 



