\ 



Report on the Cultivation of Potatoes. 505 



" 9, About 15 to 20 loads of good farmyard manure per acre : ■with the 

 smaller quantity I have used 2 or 3 cwt. of guano with marked effect, sown 

 on the row previous to covering or filling in the holes after planting. If you 

 can get town manure, 1 prefer it ; let it be drawn together, and then turned 

 and mixed well together a mouth before getting it on. Highly-concentrated 

 manures I find injurious, promoting a too rapid growth, which causes the 

 potatoes to bo more susceptible of taking the disease. I find the phosphates 

 much better ; they promote a strong robust growth : by that I mean stout, 

 short-jointed, not too rank. 



" 10. Early varieties I begin planting about the 12th or 14th February : 

 later kinds on into March. 



" 11. About 15 cwt. 



" 12. I grow a good many early Kidney potatoes ; some kinds will not bear 

 cutting, the Old Ash-leaf, for instance, and some others, but I cut all the 

 large tubers of my early Prolific Ashleaf, which do well when cut. I cut 

 them crosswise, not lengthwise. Middle size I plant whole ; the small ones, 

 not larger than almonds, I plant two in a hole, with quite satisfactory 

 results. Eound varieties, I cut all the large tubers, making good-sized setts-. 

 I do not hold with cutting the setts too small. The middle-size I take a thin 

 slice off the crown. I lay the setts, as they are cut, on an even stone-flooir, 

 the barn-floor, and sprinkle quick or caustic lime over them each day as they 

 are cut, and then turn them over carefully with a shovel. The lime being 

 quick or caustic, it riddles among the setts freely and cauterises the cut parts, 

 and so prevents or stops bleeding. 



13. Early sorts I plant down the seam of every second furrow, and as the 

 laud is ploughed 12 inch-furrow, the rows will be 24 inches apart, and the 

 setts 12 inches in the row. Late varieties, as Regents, Patterson's Victoria, &c., 

 I plant every third furrow, leaving them 36 inches from row to row, 15 inches 

 apart in the row. Skerry Blues, Sutton's Flour-ball, &c., everj' fourth row. 



" 14. I use a large iiotato-dibble or pin for planting ; a man making the 

 holes down every second furrow as described, a boy to follow and drop a sett 

 into every hole ; they then with a hoe fill in the holes, and the work is complete. 

 I leave the land in that state until the potatoes come up, which will be about 

 the middle of April ; I then, with a horse and a set of light iron harrows, 

 have them harrowed across the furrow, which brings the land down to a fine 

 tilth, levels it, and kills the young seed weeds which have now vegetated. In 

 about 10 or 12 days they will be well up in fall row ; I then send a horse with 

 a small scuffle. I use ' Busbey's ' set, about 15 or 16 inches wide and 3 or 4 

 inches deep, up the middle or between the rows, which breaks the furrow well 

 at bottom ; the men follow next day, and side-hoe them and clear the rows of 

 any weeds there may be left in tliem ; in 3 or 4 days, or if cold weather per- 

 haps a week, they will be about 4 inches high. I then follow with the earthing- 

 ]jlough, set 2 or 3 inches deep, down the centre of each row, i.e. between each 

 row, which will raise the earth to nearly 4 inches high from the bottom, and 

 the work is complete. 



" 15. Nominal ; as a rule, during the last 20 years I have only once approached 

 10 per cent, of diseased tubers, and twice during the time approached 5 per 

 cent. ; all other years it has been nominal. 



" 16. Close sultrj^ weather, frequently after a thunder-storm. I like to plant 



■ a good distance apart, so that the air can circulate freely among them and dry 



them off quickly after rain. I have observed where the top or haulm is heavy 



from too thick planting it falls to the ground, and keeps in a damp state, and 



is thereby rendered more susceptible. 



" 17. I cannot give precise dates. About the end of July and on in 

 August, with a close warm atmosphere, a storm is sure to leave traces of it 

 behind. I have observed cottage gardens, where partially shaded with trees, 



