67J 



POTATO 



POTATO. 



671 



the earth four inches downwards, and covered with some of the mould, 

 whK'h had been thrown out in forming the drills, by the rake, to within 

 four inches of the surface. The sets uncut are then to be placed, with 

 the crown eye uppermost, in the centre of the furrow, four inches from 

 each other, and to be covered with only an inch of mould at first, and 

 afterwards with an occasional quantity of sifted ashes, until the plants 

 are so vigorous and advanced as to require the usual earthing, of 

 which, however, very little is necessary. Mr. Knight used leaves as a 

 lining at the aides of the drills in the early periods, to preserve as much 

 warmth as possible, and better to guard against the effects of frost. 



This management alone will be found successful, except perhaps in 

 very tenacious clay soil, in which the rams of winter may lodge so 

 near the fibres of the plants as to destroy them altogether ; but de- 

 struction from this cause may easily be avoided by increasing the 

 original depth of the furrows and loosening the bed of clay below with 

 the spade to such a depth as will allow the water to descend from the 

 surface, with a drain to carry it off altogether ; or by laying below 

 some absorbent matter, such as ashes, chalk, or calcareous gravel. 



The germination of the sets may be accelerated by a little manage- 

 ment previously to their being planted, by laving them on a floor, 

 sprinkling them with water until they bud, and then covering them 

 with finely-sifted mould. If this be done in December or early in 

 Janu.iry, the sets, with strong shoots, may be taken up in February 

 (with as much earth as possible adhering to them), and carefully placed 

 in the drills prepared as directed, and covered with well-rotted leaves 

 or earth in the same way. 



To market-gardeners it is a great object to raise the earliest potatoes, 

 considering the high price which they obtain for them, though in their 

 w.n \y state they are neither wholesome nor palatable. Next in early 

 maturity to the ash-leaved and walnut-leaved are the early Manly and 

 early Champion and Fox's seedling. 



The best soil for potatoes generally is that which is altogether fresh 

 from the state of lea, or which has not long been broken up : land 

 ivliich has been in grass for only two or three years is easily prepared 

 for the principal crop. It should be as deeply ploughed as possible 

 before whiter, and early in March harrowed, and thoroughly cross- 

 I'loughed. After lying in this state for two or three weeks, it should 

 l>e v.-ell harrowed and very deeply ploughed twice, without 

 bringing up any bad substratum, and it will then be fit for the recep- 

 tion of the crop. 



The inoet approved modes of setting are ag follows : Drills should 

 be formed in the well-pulverised field with double boutings of the 

 plough, in order to have the shoulders uniform, which is essential to 

 the correctness of succeeding operations. The dung is then to be 

 carted out, and divided by the carter with a drag-fork as his horse and 

 cart move forwards (the horse walking in the centre of three drills 

 while the wheels move in the other two), in such quantities as can be 

 most conveniently shaken out into the drills by the labourers employed 

 to spread it. In dry weather the carting does no injury, and this 

 method is universal in Scotland. The other principal mode, more 

 generally pursued in Ireland by some of the best cultivators of the 

 potato, is to cart out the manure before the drills are formed, in rows 

 seven or eight yards apart, and to supply the drills from the heaps as 

 the plough advances in its work, reserving just as much as is supposed 

 sufficient for the concluding drills, which are to be made in the sections 

 of the field previously occupied by the rows of manure. By the latter 

 treatment the manure may be laid over the sets which cannot be 

 done in the former case and this will preserve them from being 

 displaced or crushed by the feet of the horses during the process of 

 covt ring the seed. But against this advantage which is not incon- 

 siderable there is the inconvenience of calculating with precision and 

 laying aside as the plough advances to draw the last drills where the 

 rows had stood the precise complement of manure, and the difficulty 

 to the ploughman of preserving the exact breadth in those drills. 



Some avoid any perplexities in those respects by ploughing in the 

 manure thoroughly before drilling, and either dropping the set in every 

 third furrow, or rolling the whole manured and ploughed surface, and 

 tin n making drills. Our own experience is greatly in favour of this 

 latter mode, when the fertilising matter is abundant and of the short 

 .hich freely combines with the soil, and does not obstruct 

 the plough in the subsequent drilling. The lazy-bed method is so 

 lly condemned, that any explanation of it here would be super- 

 fluous, yet in uudrained bog-land, or under any circumstances in which 

 a redundancy of wetness is probable in the autumn, as on low marshy 

 ' r stitfclay soils which have no sufficient inclination to carry off 

 the water, and are likely to be saturated with moisture in whiter from 

 want of drainage, the lazy-bed system is by far the safest. The deep 

 wide furrows at each side carry off the water, or at least remove it 

 from the potato. Thousands of tons of potatoes in the year 1839 were 

 utterly lost in Ireland, being drilled in flat and tenacious lands, which 

 would have escaped destruction from the continued rains of that 

 season if drained by the furrow of the lazy-bed. Besides, where cir- 

 ' mces preclude the practicability of deep ploughing, the lazy-bed 

 practice repeated for three years will completely spade-trench the 

 entire land, and thus effect an important benefit not otherwise attain- 

 able by the humble tiller of the soil who has no teams for ploughing 

 it effectually. Thus local or national modes, though apparently 

 defective to the superficial observer, are sometimes founded upon sound 



AKT8 ASD SCI. DIV. VOL. VI. 



principles, and though we feel disposed to exclude the minute details 

 of what is only defensible under peculiar circumstances from an essay 

 on potato culture under our modern system, we protest against the 

 unqualified condemnation of a method which is still pursued through- 

 out a great part of Ireland. 



The sets (uncut, for reasons to be yet assigned) are next to be laid 

 down, either under or over the manure, at the average distance of 

 sixteen inches, by the setters, who move in a retrograde direction, and 

 are provided with aprons to contain the sets. A sufficient number of 

 men are in attendance to divide the manure evenly in the drills ; the 

 plough also is in the field in order that there may be the least possible 

 exposure of the manure and sets to the sun or to parching wind, but 

 the plough should cover the sets rather lightly in clay soil. 



The roller is next used to lay an even surface to the brairding * 

 plants, and to facilitate the subsequent progress of the paring plough, 

 which is to be set to work when the stems are six or seven inches 

 high, and should move as close to the plants as is practicable without 

 injuring their tender fibres. The weeders should then hoe the plants 

 carefully, and immediately afterwards (for the influence of wind or 

 hot ah- on the roots is pernicious) the scuffler or drill-harrow is to 

 follow, in order to clean and level the intervals, before the earthing 

 plough, with either double or single mould-board, is introduced to 

 apply fresh earth to the stems. 



Such is the method of earthing universally pursued by the farmer 

 in Ireland and Scotland, but in England the hand-hoe is principally 

 used for destroying weeds, loosening the earth, and moulding the 

 plants ; for the two first of these operations the bean-hoe (which cuts 

 about six inches deep) is used, and the turnip-hoe for drawing the 

 earth to the stems. One man will hoe out the weeds and loosen the 

 soil of half an acre per day, and the subsequent earthing of the same 

 quantity is also executed by one man. This is far cheaper than horse- 

 work, and it does no injury to any of the stems, and makes no waste 

 land at the headriggs ; and where the earth has been perfectly well 

 prepared at the commencement, this manual husbandry is the best. 



As to the distance between the drills, due regard must be had to the 

 natural quality of the soil and the quantity and description of manure 

 available, or in other words, to the probable luxuriance of foliage. 

 Mr. Knight, aware of the necessity of allowing room in proportion to 

 the vigour and height of the plants, has laid down an exact rule thus : 

 " The height of the stems being three feet, the rows ought to be 

 four feet apart : " but for a general average, thirty inches is the best 

 distance. As to excess of foliage, we are certain that it is not desi- 

 rable, for the produce of tubers is not always in proportion to the 

 degree of foliage ; under high and rank stems there is often a very 

 scanty crop, and Mr. Knight is justified by experience in his obser- 

 vation that " the largest produce will be obtained from varieties of 

 rather early habits and rather low stature, there being in very tall 

 plants much tune lost in conveying the nutriment from the soil to the 

 leaves," and consequently strong and upright stems, which do not 

 fall down and shade the others, are those which are desirable. 



Two more earthings are usually given, but it is questionable whether 

 even one be necessary in soil of average depth, unless there be a very 

 wide interval between the drills, and it is certain that much earthing 

 in dry and shallow soil is injurious ; for by withdrawing the earth 

 from contiguity to the fibres which ramify and penetrate far in loose 

 soil, and laying it on the head of the drill, and in the high ridgelet 

 form, it is applied where it is useless for the nourishment of the 

 tubers, and in a position that favours the rapid escape of moisture, 

 which in such soil it ought to be an object to retain. In deep land, 

 more particularly if it be of tenacious quality, the furrows at each side 

 of the drill will be in general seasons most serviceable as drains, as 

 well as for furnishing earth to support the stems, while the moisture 

 will be sufficiently retained for the roots. 



Experiments t have led to the inference that in soil of a loose 

 porous quality there is probably a greater produce by not affording 

 any (or a very slight) moulding, but by digging instead between the 

 rows ; for deep and perfect pulverisation, next to an adequate allow- 

 ance of rich manure, is the main cause of a large produce. In propor- 

 tion to the deficiency of manure will be the necessity for opening the 

 soil beneath, to allow the fibres, which may be distinctly traced to a 

 depth incredible to those who have not followed their ramifications, to 

 extract all the nourishment which the subsoil may afford. If there be 

 an abundance of nutriment above, neither the necessity nor perhaps 

 the inclination for penetrating deeply can exist, and in such cases the 

 operation of earthing by the plough, as long as it can be introduced 

 without injury to the stems, may be useful in many ways, but un- 

 questionably by guarding them from the effects of storm in exposed, 

 and from excessive wetness hi low situations. Besides, in regulating 

 ;his point, regard should always be had to the quality of the potato, 

 'or the tubers of some varieties have a tendency to push to the surface, 

 while others tend into the earth, and therefore require a different 

 treatment. 



But in all cases the earth should be rendered as loose and friable as 

 possible, by spade, hoe, or plough ; and where labour is easily corn- 



* A Scotch term signifying " shooting out.'* 



t Sec Martin Doyle's ' Cyclopaedia of Practical Husbandry,' p. 372. 



4 That kind called the bean-hoc, shaped like an adze. 



X X 



