266 BPvITISH HUSBANDRY. [Cli. XXII. 



from tlirec to five and seven feet ; the trenches being dug to the width of 

 eighteen inches to three feet, and to the depth of one foot to twenty inches *, 

 according to the nature of tlie soil. Tlie sets are then placed in drills upon 

 the dung at nine or ten inches apart, and at various distances between the 

 rows, and covered with soil from the trenches. About three weeks after- 

 wards, or as soon as the sprouts begin to appear, the beds are covered 

 equally with two or three inches of earth dug also from the trenches. The 

 operation is not only beneficial to the potato plants by giving an addition 

 of fresh mould, but lias also a tendency to check the growth of, and indeed 

 in a great measure to destroy, the couch and other weeds which make their 

 appearance upon the land ; and it is repeated, so far as earthing-up the 

 plants, without covering them after they are in bloom. 



This plan is disapproved in most parts of England, where it is generally 

 viewed as one proof of the wretched state of farming in Ireland, as it is 

 there carried into execution wholly with the spade; while in this country, 

 the land is always prepared for' planting with the ploughj. It is not, 

 however, clear that the parties who have adopted it are wrong ; for it may 

 be peculiarly well adapted to certain soils and situations, and it has been 

 justly observed by an Irish gentleman of great experience in agricultural 

 affairs, that independently of its being forced uj)on the small tenantry, 

 whose holdings are not sufficient to afford the expense of teams, and who 

 liave little other employment than manual labour — " it is, beyond dispute, 

 tlie best method on all hilly, rough, rocky, mountain, moss, or bog land ; 

 and the potato is drier also when sown in this way, there being in fact a 

 drain on each side ; and this is one reason why potatoes are generally 

 better and more mealy in Ireland than in England : and it must not be for- 

 gotten, that although the potato likes a moist climate, it also likes a dry, 

 unadhesive soil, where it can freely send forth its rootst." 



There can, indeed, be no doubt that the land is better worked up and 

 pulverized by the spade than by the plough ; and that the lazy-bed culture 

 is equally as productive as that by the common mode, seems to have been 

 proved by an experiment made by Mr. Drummond, of the botanic garden 

 at Cork, and recorded by the London Horticultural Society §. 



He laid out a plot of ground sixty-five feet wide by fifty-six long, 

 and divided it lengthways into three equal parts, which were treated 

 in the following manner ; the cuttings being from the red-apple 

 potato, which is there much esteemed. 



1. The sets were planted in the beds of the first plot, about nine 

 inches asunder, but not too deep ; the manure was afterwards spread 

 on the surface of the land, and covered with earth dug from the alleys. 

 When the plants made their appearance they were earthed a second 

 time ; and, as they advanced, a third time, where the depth of the 

 earth below the beds allowed of it : vvliich is all the care requisite until 

 they are fit to be dug up. 



* In the county of Kildare the beds are seven feet wide, the trenches three feet and a 

 half wide by eighteen to twenty inches deep, in order to bring up some of the limestone 

 fi;ravel ; but, generally speaking, the widths throughout Ireland are about five feet by 

 two. — Young's Irish Tour, vol. i. p. 7. At Frodsham, in Cheshire, which is celebrated 

 fur the superiority of its potato culture, the beds are three to four feet wide, v/ith deep 

 intermediate trenches. — Chesh. Rep. p. 141. 



f Thus in Cornwall the fanners plant seven successive furrows, then miss two; which 

 two furrows are hacked and well broken, and spread over the ridge when the potatoes 

 appear above ground. — Cornish Rep. p. 70. 



+ Lambert on the Rur. Afif. of Ireland, p. 127 



§ Traus. of the Soc, vol. iii, art, 2i. 



