83 



10. Potatoes. 



The culture of potatoes has greatly increased in Scot- 

 land, owing to the following circumstances, r. The ex- 



well on peat, he resolved to try, whether carrots, also, would 

 not answer; and he pitched on an acre of low meadow- 

 ground for that purpose, which might have been converted 

 into peats for fuel. It was trenched in November 1805, anl 

 a crop of oats taken in 1806. After the oats were removed, 

 a moderate quantity of rotten dung, and some lime, were 

 laid on the ground, it was then dug over with the spade, and 

 in spring 1807, sown with carrots in drills. 



In the beginning of the year 1808, the ground got a small 

 quantity of dung, and was again dug over with the spade, 

 and sown with carrots. The crop was very abundant, 

 and some of the carrots measured eighteen inches in length, 

 although the ground was only trenched to the depth of a 

 foot. 



The quantity per acre was from thirteen to fourteen tons, 

 which was sold, when delivered at Leith, for 7 s. 6 d. per 

 cwt., or L. 7, IDS. per ton. The produce of an acre, there- 

 fore, when the crop answers, is immense. The value of 

 carrots, as food for cattle, is well known, r and it must be 

 of peculiar consequence, therefore, in the Highland districts 

 of the country, to cultivate that root. 



From 1 68 to 200 carrots weighed one cwt., and, whrn 

 sold in the Edinburgh market, fetched, even the small 

 sized, i d. per piece, and the larger sorts i-J d., and even ;zd. 

 each. 



The principal difficulty is to get good seed. If that can 

 be obtained, no crop will repay so well the expence of cul- 

 tivation on a peaty soil. Suffolk is the best county for ob- 

 taining it. 



The quantity of good seed required per English acre, is 

 from 61b. to 8 Ib. As farm-servants are not Well acquaint- 

 ed with the culture, it is best to sow the larger quantity. 

 The price varies, according to the season, from is. 6d. 

 to 2 s. per Ib. The proper season for sowing field carrots, is 

 from the middle to the end of March. They should be ' 

 sown in drills, but not in raised ridges like tuunips, and not 

 rolled. The drills should be eighteen inches apart, if drilled 



