ROOTS AND ESCULENT TUBERS. 



343 



In order to produce an early crop, the seed should be planted just as soon in the spring as 

 the ground can be put in proper condition; the earliest kinds can be marketed in from sixty- 

 five to seventy days from the time of planting, if the season be as favorable as the average. 

 Seed potatoes should not be exposed to the cold before planting, as they will not produce 

 healthy vines under such circumstances, even if the cold is not sufficient to change their 

 outward appearance. The severe cold seems to lessen the vitality and vigor of the embryo 

 sprouts, or buds of the tubers. &quot;Whenever there is a prospect of frost, after the shoots make 

 their appearance from the soil, a little light earth thrown hastily over them will furnish ample 

 protection from injury, and will not be detrimental to the crop, as they will in a few days push 



themselves out of it. Some 

 vaneties require more space 

 for growth than others, not 

 only on account of difference 

 in size, but in root extension, 

 having rootlets that v. r ander in 

 the soil much farther than 

 , others. 



The two preceding figures 

 show the habit of growth of 

 the Compton s Surprise, and 

 the Alpha one of the ear 

 liest varieties known which 

 illustrate this point. When 

 the seed is changed, as it should 

 be occasionally, it is better to 

 obtain it irom a northern local 

 ity rather than a southern, as 

 a product from the former, 

 having a shorter season in 

 which to mature, will have 

 established this habit, and ripen 



ALPHA. 



earlier than from the latter source, which would mature more slowly. Prof. Goodale says that 

 his observations and experiments lead him to believe that an important advantage results from 

 such change of seed, and as an instance, he gives it his opinion that farmers in New 

 Jersey would add one-third to their product by planting or seed, potatoes that were grown 

 in Maine. Different varieties should be planted separately, otherwise they will become 

 mixed and the value of the crop greatly deteriorated. 



Forcing Potatoes, When an unusually early start is desirable for a crop, the growth of 

 the young plants can be greatly facilitated by selecting whole and perfectly sound tubers, of 

 medium size, of some early variety, and placing them quite close together in a moderately 

 heated bed especially prepared for them, and composed of either light loam or partially decayed 

 leaves, or both combined. Mr. Bliss recommends this to be done three or four weeks previous 

 to the time of planting. The tubers will, by this time, have become sufficiently well sprouted 

 to be set out in the field, which should have a warm soil, well fertilized and pulverized. The 

 potatoes should then be carefully cut for planting, especial pains being required not to injure 

 or break the young shoots, and also to give each sprout a proper amount of the tuber for 

 support, according to previous directions. Plant the pieces thus started from three to four 

 inches deep, having first placed a little horse-manure in the bottom of each hill to secure 

 warmth and furnish fertility to the young plants. By this process a much earlier crop can 

 be produced than the ordinary method of planting, and although attended with a little extra 

 trouble, will be valuable to the farmer who wishes to raise an unusually early crop for market 



or family use. Another way of accomplishing the same result with comparatively little 

 2 L 



