Vegetable Growing for Market 135 



As there are many parts of Ireland with a climate as equable and genial 

 as that of Jersey, if not more so, there is no reason why the culture of 

 Early Potatoes should not be undertaken on a large scale, especially as it 

 now takes no longer, or very little longer, to send consignments from the 

 south, west, and north-west of Ireland to the English markets than it does 

 from Jersey. Along the shores of Ayrshire and Wigtownshire large quan- 

 tities of Early Potatoes already are grown for the English markets, but 

 are later than the supplies from Jersey. With good culture and good soil 

 it ought to be possible to grow more Early Potatoes, and thus secure 

 higher prices than is at present the case. 



Cultivation of the Potato. Of late years much attention has been 

 given to the best methods of cultivation, and experiments almost in- 

 numerable on manuring, spraying, and sprouting have been carried out 

 by various agricultural schools and colleges in England, and by the 

 Department of Agriculture in Ireland. The results of these experiments 

 have been tabulated, but beyond giving a great impetus to the sales of 

 artificial fertilizers and poisonous washes there seems to be little improve- 

 ment to record so far as the yield of tubers per acre is concerned. Indeed 

 the cultural operations in the great majority of cases seem to have been 

 ignored or not considered. As a rule, nothing is said as to the prepara- 

 tion of the soil, whether it is dug deeply or otherwise, or whether it is 

 ploughed; nor is reference made, as a rule, to the distance between the 

 rows or the number of sets to the acre and their weight. These im- 

 portant points sink into oblivion in comparison with the effects produced 

 by this or that special fertilizer or wash. The results obtained are useful 

 in a way, but they are vitiated to a great extent owing to inferior cul- 

 tural methods. As a rule, the soil is not cultivated sufficiently deep, and 

 the sets and rows are much too close together. Most potato growers 

 are apparently unaware of the fact that the great bulk of the dry weight 

 of the crop comes from the carbonic acid gas in the atmosphere, under 

 the influence of sunlight, and they are under the impression that the 

 more tubers they put into the ground the greater and better the yield. 

 Nothing could be further from the facts. Indeed, most of our Potato 

 troubles are readily traceable to overcrowding and bad cultivation. It is 

 considered a " waste of ground " to put sets in a yard apart, and too little 

 is spent in labour in preparing the soil in advance. 



The Soil. The ideal soil for Potatoes is a deep and gritty loam on 

 a limestone bottom, if possible, or with a fair percentage of lime in it. 

 Such a soil, however, should be deeply worked, and it will pay for the 

 expense, not only because of the large and essential quantities of natural 

 potash (a most important Potato food) that will be liberated, but also 

 because such terrible pests as wireworms, if present, will be brought up 

 and exposed to the keen eyes of the various birds always on the search for 

 food. Ground that is already in a good state of cultivation would cost 

 from 40s. to 60s. per acre to dig one spit deep. Heavy ground covered 



