102 THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 
cannot be exhibited. Of the two extremes, the light soil is the 
best, because by the addition of liberal dressings of manure, crops of 
excellent quality can in the majority of seasons be obtained. Much 
may also be done in the improvement of heavy clays by the addition 
of lime rubbish, sand, wood-ashes, and indeed other matters that 
would help to make the staple more friable, provided, of course, they 
are in no way unfavourable to the growth of the potatoes. A 
situation sheltered from the north and easterly winds is preferable, 
for the tops are very susceptible to injury from spring frosts, and as 
even slight checks exercise an influence upon the crop, it is desirable 
to plant them in a position where they will be least likely to be 
injured by frosts and cold winds when the haulm is in a tender 
condition. Soil that was manured in the autumn, dug up deeply, 
and left in a rough state, will now be in the best possible condition 
for planting; for it will be in good heart, without the potatoes 
coming in contact with fresh manure, and the surface will have 
become nicely pulverized by the action of the weather upon it in 
the course of the past winter. 
To bury potato sets, as is frequently advised, is in many instances 
injurious to the crop, and in no case is it necessary, for when the 
potatoes are planted entirely on the surface, it is a very easy matter 
to cover them sufficiently by drawing the soil to the ridges from the 
space between the rows. Indeed, in planting on heavy soils, the 
sets should be laid on the surface of the ground, and a few inches of 
soil drawn over them. The requisite depth of soil can afterwards 
be added by drawing more to the ridges when the haulm begins to 
show through the soil, and when they receive their final earthing up. 
It is most desirable to add the soil at three or four operations, and 
to be careful to draw the well-pulverized soil from the surface each 
time, so that there may be no hard lumps to prevent the perfect 
development of the tubers. 
In planting below the surface, open out shallow trenches with 
the spade, and after the potatoes have been laid along these, at the 
proper distance apart, fill in carefully, and as far as can be con- 
yeniently done, put the hard lumps, if any, on one side. 
In the production of exhibition specimens, the rows must be 
from three to four feet apart, and the sets from sixteen to eighteen 
inches apart in the rows, according to the growth of the haulm; for 
unless the tops have sufficient space to spread freely, large tubers of 
fine quality will not be obtained. Main-crop potatoes grown simply 
for home consumption should be allowed nearly, if not quite as much 
space, for it is now generally acknowledged by first-class cultivators 
that nothing is gained by overcrowding. A dressing of super- 
phosphate of lime, guano, or bone-dust, at planting time will be 
most beneficial ; and it should be spread along the drills previous 
to the sets being placed in them, at the rate of about five hundred- 
weight per acre. Soils that were dressed liberally with farmyard 
manure in the autumn should have a lighter dressing of artificial 
manure ; others that are very poor, a trifle more. When guano is 
employed, it should be mixed with equal quantities of wood ashes, it 
the ashes can be conveniently obtained. 
