NOVEL POTATO CULTURE, 113 



generally give any old potatoes away that may be left when 

 the following season's crop is lifted. In doing this in 

 1902, I saw that some of the old tubers of the 1901 crop 

 on the chalk floor were forming small potatoes on their 

 surfaces. On August 5 the more advanced and promis- 

 ing were arranged one thick in another part of the cave. 

 Over these some finely-sifted potting shed soil was sprin- 

 kled, but not to quite cover them, so that they might be 

 carefully watched. On September 5 the first dish of 

 potatoes, of good size arid excellent quality, was picked. 

 As everything looked so encouraging we made frequent 

 successions to follow on, with the result that we have 

 been gathering (not digging) young potatoes throughout 

 the autumn and winter. 



Tubers Bear a Second Crop. Our practice has 

 been to grow the earliest supply in pots, followed by frame 

 culture. In these cases the plants have to be turned out, 

 or dug up, and the very small ones are practically wasted. 

 In our caves we pick off those that are ready, and leave the 

 little ones to come on, so that the old tubers give a succes- 

 sion. Strange to say, some tubers that had borne a crop, 

 after a short interval, showed signs of bearing a second 

 time; we have tried them, with fairly good results. It is 

 curious that very little root-action or leaf growth is made, 

 I may almost say none at all. 



In a Mushroom House. We have, in addition to 

 the caverns, tried them in our mushroom house, with satis- 

 tory results. We also tried them in a frame with a little 

 heat. In this case the tubers were covered with about 

 two inches of the fine soil, to prevent the young potatoes 

 becoming green. This also was very successful. In 

 gathering from the frame, we draw away the fine soil with 

 the hand, lift out the old tubers, pick off the young ones 

 that are ready, and replace the old ones. This handling 

 of the old tubers, which is necessary when gathering, does 

 not seem to hurt them the least. Satisfactory crops have 



