POTATO CULTURE ON FARMS. 79 



ing in mind the fact that, during that period, the arable 

 land in Great Britain has decreased by nearly two million 

 acres, these figures bear out the statement that our 

 growers of potatoes can defy outside competition. It is 

 true that in Ireland the area of the potato crop has fallen 

 from 798,942 acres in 1884 to 618,540 in 1904, as a result 

 of a great conversion of arable land to pasture, but in that 

 country a large proportion of the produce has always been 

 grown for consumption on farms, and the increased pros- 

 perity of the people has rendered them less dependent 

 upon potatoes as food than they were formerly. The five 

 greatest potato-growing counties in England, with the 

 acreages for 1904, are: Lincoln, 76,249; Yorkshire, 52,733; 

 Lancashire, 44,665; Cheshire, 24,167; and Cambridge, 

 24,024. Kent, Norfolk, Devon, Durham, and Stafford 

 grow severally from 10,000 to over 13,000 acres. Among 

 Scottish counties Fife stands highest, with over 15,000 

 acres; Perth and Forfar growing over 12,000; Ayr nearly 

 9,000; Haddington over 8,000; and Aberdeen over 7,000 

 acres. 



Soilc A good loam, light, rather than heavy, such as 

 the soils over the Old Red Sandstone or the Greensand, or 

 alluvial soil, is the best for potatoes. Peaty soils, such as 

 those of the Lincolnshire fens, produce great crops, but 

 the tubers, known in the market as " blackland " potatoes, 

 are of comparatively low quality, and sell accordingly. 

 Neither clays nor their soils over the chalk are well suited 

 to the crop. In the former the potatoes are particularly 

 liable to disease in rainy seasons, and in the latter they 

 suffer from drought in dry seasons. See also chapter on 

 Soils. 



Cultivation. When potatoes are to be grown after a 

 corn crop, the stubble should be thoroughly cultivated as 

 early as possible. Nothing beats steam cultivation, but 

 where this is not available, the land should be well worked 

 with the plough, tho cultivator, and the harrows, being 



