176 WHAT I KNOW OF FARMING. 



It seems to be generally agreed that clayey soils 

 are not adapted to its growth ; that, if the quantity 

 of the crop be not stinted, its quality is pretty sure 

 to be inferior ; and I can personally testify that the 

 planting of Potatoes on wet soil that is, on swampy 

 or spongy land which has not been thoroughly drain- 

 ed and sweetened is a hopeless, thriftless labor 

 that the crop will seldom be worth the seed. 



As to' the ten or a dozen different insects to which 

 the Potato-rot has been attributed, I regard them all 

 as consequences, not causes ; attracted to prey on the 

 plant by its sickly, weakly condition, and not really 

 responsible for that condition. If any care for my 

 realms, let him refer to what I have said of the 

 Wheat-plant and its insect enemies.* 



There has been much discussion as to the kind of 

 seed to be planted ; and I think the result has been 

 a pretty general conviction -that it is better to cut the 

 tuber into pieces having two or three eyes each, 

 than to plant it whole, since the whole Potato sends up 

 a superfluity of stalks, with a like effect on the crop to 

 that of putting six or eight kernels of corn in each hill. 



Small Potatoes are immature, unripe, and of course 

 should never be planted, since their progeny will be 

 feeble and sickly. Select for seed none but thor- 

 oughly ripe Potatoes, and the larger the better. 



My own judgment favors planting in drills rather 

 than hills, with ample space for working between 

 them ; not less than 30 inches : the seed being drop- 



* See Chapter XXII. 



