28 THE POTATO. 



rate quality. In the fen and warp lands of Lincolnshire 

 potatoes do remarkably well, especially in those of peaty 

 origin, known locally as " Black Lands.'' In Essex, on 

 the London clay, and in Sussex, on the Wealden clay, 

 good potatoes are likewise grown. 



If we turn to the annual official statistics, giving the 

 acreage of potatoes grown in Great Britain and Ireland, we 

 shall find that there are few counties in which potatoes are 

 not extensively grown, and on a great diversity of soil 

 formations too. In Cambridgeshire, for instance, 24,024 

 acres were grown in 1904. The northern part and the 

 centre are mostly fen land, and the remainder the Upper 

 and Lower Chalk formation. Cheshire grew 24,167 acres, 

 the soil being a reddish loam or marl overlying the New 

 Red Sandstone. In Lancashire no less than 44,665 acres 

 of potatoes were grown, and here there are a variety of 

 soils, clays, marls, and peat beds overlying the Coal Mea- 

 sures, New Red Sandstone, and Millstone Grit. Lincoln- 

 shire, as might be expected, grew 76,249 acres. The chief 

 crops were grown on the fen or warp lands, already alluded 

 to, as well as probably on the Lias, Marl, and Greensand 

 formations. The East, West, and North Ridings of York- 

 shire collectively grew 52,563 acres on a diversity of soils 

 overlying the New Red Sandstone, Millstone Grit, Mag- 

 nesian Limestone, etc. Then, in Wales, Cardiganshire, 

 which possesses a by no means favourable soil, on the 

 Silurian formation, grew 5,450 acres, or nearly double the 

 acreage of any other county in the Principality. In Scot- 

 land, the biggest acreage grown last year was in Perth- 

 shire, this being 13,678 acres. The geological formation 

 here is Silurian and Old Red Sandstone. Fifeshire comes 

 next with 15,831 acres, Forfarshire with 13,305 acres, and 

 Ayrshire with 9,457 acres. Here, again, the chief geologi- 

 cal formations are Old Red Sandstone, Silurian, and Coal 

 Measures. In Ireland the largest acreage devoted to pota- 

 toes in 1904 occurred in Co. Cork. Here 44,665 acres were 

 grown, and these chiefly on the marly soils overlying the 

 Old Red Sandstone formation. The next highest acreage 



