618 FORCING THE COMMON POTATO. 



kale, they may be planted close together on a bed of material heated 

 artificially, or laid side by side in the floor of a vinery, or between 

 the flue and wall, and covered with tan, peat, or leaf-mould. The 

 rhubarb should be grown at least tw.o years from the seed, in the same 

 manner as the sea-kale, before being taken up for forcing ; but the 

 chicory should be sown the same year. The leaves of the chicory 

 require to be blanched, and therefore it ought always to be forced in 

 the dark ; but as most people prefer the rhubarb only partially 

 blanched, a certain degree of light may be admitted. In Belgium 

 the roots of chicory are taken up oh the approach of winter, and 

 stacked in cellars in alternate layers of sand, so as to form ridges with 

 the crowns of the plants on the surface of the ridge. Here, if the 

 temperature is a few degrees above the freezing-point, the crowns soon 

 send out leaves in such abundance as to afford an ample supply of 

 salad during the whole winter. Mushroom-houses are invaluable for 

 these purposes ; and during winter the beds on the ground line are 

 often reserved for such purposes in the forcing of rhubarb, sea-kale, 

 chicory, &c. 



Forcing other Roots. The common dandelion (Leontodon Taraxa- 

 cum, L.) affords a salad in all respects equal to that of the chicory, 

 and may be similarly treated. Hamburg parsley, the common parsley, 

 burnet, fennel, wild spinach (Chenopodium Bonus Henricus, L.), wild 

 beet, as a substitute for spinach, and the common turnip, for the leaves 

 as greens, and various other plants having fleshy roots, and of which 

 the foliage or leaf-stalks are used in salads or cookery, may be forced 

 on the same principle as asparagus, sea-kale, &c. ; the practice being 

 founded on the physiological fact that the root of every perennial 

 herbaceous plant contains within itself, during winter, enough matter 

 to enable it to develop its leaf-stems and unfold its leaves in a genial 

 warm atmosphere without the aid of either light or food. 



Forcing the Common Potato. 



The common potato (Solanum tuberosum, L.) is forced in a great 

 variety of ways. The best varieties for this purpose are the Ash- 

 leaved kidney, the Rufford kidney, Champion, Handsworth, Myatt's 

 Prolific, and Rivers's Royal Ash-leaf. They may be forced in pots or 

 boxes on shelves in a peach-house or vinery, or in frames or pits 

 moderately heated, the plants in every case being kept quite near the 

 glass, as few plants suffer more when placed at a distance from the 

 glass than the potato. The first crop may be planted on the 1st of 

 November, either in a peach-house or vinery at work, or in a small 

 house or pit devoted to them. Plant sets or whole tubers that have 

 been thoroughly greened, and have the young shoots starting into growth; 

 keep them near the glass, and maintain a temperature of from 50 to 

 60, and good potatoes may be had in March. Though the crop may 

 not be so heavy in pots, a few weeks may be gained in time by pot- 

 culture. Care must be taken to earth-up the tubers as they swell, or the 

 tops of pot-grown potatoes will be apt to become green. Time may 



