78 THE POTATO. 



CHAPTER IX. 



POTATO CULTURE ON FARMS. 



ONE of the few branches of agriculture in which British 

 farmers can hold their own in these times of severe agri- 

 cultural competition is that of potato growing. Even in 

 the production of early tubers, to be sold as " new " pota- 

 toes, this is the case in relation to districts specially 

 favoured in respect of climate, such as the south of Corn- 

 wall, the Scilly Isles, and the west coast-lands of Scot- 

 land, particularly of Ayrshire. Recently, the South of 

 Ireland has been added to the number of districts in which 

 early potatoes are grown, and none too soon, as it has long 

 been known that the climate there is admirably suited to 

 the industry. Of course, we do not produce in any part 

 of Great Britain or Ireland potatoes to compete with sup- 

 plies from tropical or semi-tropical countries, which arrive 

 during the winter. Nor do our growers deem it worth 

 their while to produce potatoes in glasshouses, after the 

 Jersey fashion, or at least not to any considerable extent. 

 But, in open-air production, the Scilly Isles are ahead of 

 Jersey, and the south of Cornwall, taking one season with 

 another, is about on a level with the great potato island. 

 The Ayrshire growers have to be content with a later 

 market; but what they lack in price they make good in 

 quantity. 



Acreage on Farms. The potato crop is one of the 

 few crops which have not been reduced in area in Great 

 Britain during the last twenty years. In 1884 the area 

 was 565,048 acres, and in 1904 it was 570,209 acres. Bear- 



