142 THE KITCHEN-GARDEN. [CHAP. VI. 



Unripe potatoes are considered the best ; as 

 sets from perfectly ripe potatoes are apt to pro- 

 duce diseased plants. Sometimes the tubers 

 are planted whole ; and, when this is the case, 

 it is customary to rub off all the buds but one. 

 Seed is never used, except when it is wished to 

 raise new sorts. Potatoes are seldom good 

 forced ; but an early crop may be raised by 

 planting the sets the first week in October in a 

 light sandy soil, and covering the beds with 

 straw or litter to preserve the sets (which should 

 be planted eight or nine inches deep) from frost. 

 The young plants will appear in March ; and, if 

 they are slightly protected by laying a mat over 

 the bed, the tubers will be fit for the table in 

 May or early in June. The principal early 

 crop is, however, planted early in March, and 

 the principal late crop in May or June. When 

 the potatoes are to be planted, the ground 

 should be first well pulverised, and then, the 

 garden-line being stretched across the beds, 

 holes should be made along it with the dibber, 

 about six inches deep, and about nine inches or 

 a foot apart. The sets should then be put one 

 in each hole, with the eye upwards, and the 

 earth pressed firmly down on each. When the 

 potatoes come up they should be hoed, and 

 again in about a fortnight or three weeks ; and, 

 when the plants are eight or ten inches high, 

 they should be carefully earthed up : hoeing 

 and earthing up, it must be observed, being of 

 the greatest service in admitting air to the roots. 

 As soon as the plants come into blossom, some 

 cultivators cut off the tops, to prevent the roots 

 from being exhausted by the formation of the 



