1 32 Commercial Gardening 



Cavan, 21,071 ac.; and Tipperary, 20,846 ac. The smallest Potato-growing 

 county is Kildare, with 5877 ac.; and Carlo w, Dublin, Longford, Louth, 

 Meath, Water ford, West Meath, and Wicklow each has less than 10,000 ac. 

 devoted to Potatoes. The counties having between 10,000 and 20,000 ac. 

 each are Armagh, Clare, Fermanagh, Kilkenny, King's County, Leitrim, 

 Limerick, Monaghan, Queen's County, Roscommon, Sligo, and Wexford. 

 On the whole, Potato-growing seems to be general throughout Ireland. 



In England, with 391,083 ac. in 1908 and 402,505 ac. in 1911, the 

 principal Potato-growing counties are: 



1908. 1911. 



Lincoln 65,738 ac 71,429 ac. 



Yorkshire 49,761 51,620 



Lancaster 44,575 42,814 



Cambridge 25,133 30,265 



Chester 23,346 21,592 



Kent 14,550 14,237 



Norfolk 12,319 12,556 



Durham 11,629 12,078 



Devon 11,233 11,193 



Stafford 10,992 10,817 



Essex 10,885 11,765 



The smallest English Potato-growing counties are: Rutland, 212 ac.; Mon- 

 mouth, 1051 ac.; Westmorland, 1291 ac.; Hereford, 1397 ac.; Dorset, 

 1671 ac.; Bucks, 1710 ac.; Berks, 1815 ac.; Middlesex (excluding London), 

 2003 ac.; and Derby, 2323 ac. 



This important crop is practically not grown in the district of Evesham; 

 but in Mid- Worcestershire it is largely grown. About Bewdley, Stourport, 

 Kidderminster, Stourbridge, Hartlebury, and Ombersley districts almost 

 exclusively on the New Red Sandstone formation many hundreds of 

 acres of Potatoes are grown. The soil is sandy, dry, and warm, and 

 although the plant likes the warm and dry soil it quickly deteriorates, 

 owing to the soil being deficient in the natural food requirements of the 

 Potato. The growers realize this fact and act upon it by obtaining a 

 change of seed at short intervals. A large grower has informed the writer 

 that he finds it profitable to purchase "seed" regularly from Scotland, 

 and that he finds such "seed" gives its best crop during its second year 

 of growth here. That is to say, seed saved from the progeny produced 

 by the Scottish seed during its first year of growth in this country gives 

 better results than its Scottish parent. 



In Scotland, out of a total of 142,629 ac., the counties of Fife, Forfar, 

 and Perth have 48,436 ac. under Potatoes, the figures being: Fife, 16,342 ac.: 

 Forfar, 16,992 ac.; Perth, 15,102 ac. The smallest Potato-growing counties 

 are: Selkirk, 238 ac.; Nairn, 359 ac.; Peebles, 391 ac.; Clackmannan, 

 399 ac.; Kinross, 888 ac.; and Bute, 998 ac. The other counties have 

 between 1000 and 9000 ac. devoted to Potato growing. 



In 1911 Wales had 26,667 ac. under Potatoes, a decrease of 663 ac. from 

 1908. The most important Potato-growing counties are: Cardigan, with 



