43 ESCULENT ROOT3. 



izer, but all applications of very rich manure, particularly 

 in the hill about the sets at the time of planting, should be 

 avoided. Manures that are slow in their decomposition are 

 well suited for the Potato, and experience has proved that 

 these are quite as beneficial applied equally over the ground, 

 as they are when brought more directly in contact with the 

 growing plants. Ashes are a safe manure, and crops in Eng- 

 land treated with these alone suffered very little from dis- 

 ease, while others, under the application of manure in the 

 ordinary forms, were more than half destroyed. 



Propagation. The Potato is propagated from the tubers, 

 which are either divided into sets or planted entire. Which- 

 ever of these practices may be adopted, experience has 

 proved that plants from well-ripened tubers are not only 

 more healthy and more productive, but actually come to per- 

 fection earlier than those produced from immature sets. 



Experiments for the purpose of testing the comparative 

 value of the tubers entire or divided into sets for planting, do 

 not seem to be satisfactory. At the Chiswick Gardens, Eng- 

 land, the divided tubers gave nearly one ton per acre more 

 than those planted entire, this excess being the mean of two 

 plantations, one made early in the season, and another four 

 weeks later ; while another experiment, continued through a 

 series of years, gave a mean result in favor of medium-sized 

 tubers, planted entire. 



The part of the Potato used for planting has been regarded 

 as important, the point or top being thought to produce the 

 most healthy and productive plants. Though there appears 

 to be a physiological difference between the extremities, and 

 though the results of the experiment made by the London 

 Horticultural Society gave a large amount in favor of the 

 eye or top of the tuber, still, practically considered, the part 

 of the tuber to be used for planting is comparatively unim- 

 portant a paramount consideration being its complete 

 development or full maturity. 



