5*3 



system is the direct saving of seed effected. In cutting the potato 

 it is desirable that at least two eyes be left in each set or part. A 

 surer growth is thereby attained. It is, under all circumstances, a 

 mistake to attempt to cut too many sets from one potato. Three 

 sets may sometimes be got, but two will, as a rule, be more profit- 

 able. Thinly-cut sets, like very small whole seed, will only pro- 

 duce an irregular, inferior crop, wholly unprofitable to the grower. 

 When misses are to be avoided in the crop the following plan of 

 treating the seeds is a good one : The sets are started into growth 

 before planting, and this is how to do it most economically. Make 

 boxes about 30 inches square, and about 10 inches deep. A thick 

 layer of wood ashes is spread on the bottom of the box, and on this 

 the seed is packed, either whole or cut. Then another layer of 

 ashes, and another layer of potatoes, and so on till the box weighs 

 about 100 Ibs. The sets soon commence to sprout. They are then 

 fit for planting. There may be a rope handle on each side of the 

 boxes, which are moved along the rows, and the seed is put into 

 the drills and covered up. Sets that have not started into growth 

 can be returned to the ashes until they do sprout ; or if there is no 

 growth in them, then they can be used otherwise. The process 

 does not take much more time than the ordinary plan of carrying 

 out the seed, but it adds immensely to the certainty of the crop. 

 Where it is desired to pickle potatoes as a preventive of disease, the 

 following device (see next page), described on page 294, part n of 

 the GUIDE, will be found handy. The following simple hints on 

 potato culture will be found of valueto those lacking the necessary 

 experience : 



Seed. i. Keep the seed as cool as possible, to avoid sprouting 

 until wanted to do so, because the first eyes are the strongest and 

 best, and if broken off the next eyes are weaker, and do not produce 

 such good crops. 2. Reject any seed which looks diseased ; do 

 not even use the part that appears sound, because the spawn, which 

 reproduces disease, lives through the winter in the potato, and will 

 develop in favorable weather. 3. Cut the sets a few days before 

 planting. Don't put them in heaps, but spread them out on a dry 

 floor, and dust them over with air-slaked lime, letting the sets take 

 up as much lime as will stick. This allows the cut surface to dry 

 and harden before planting, and helps to protect from disease, 

 because the spawn, which reproduces the disease, can live in the 

 ground a long time, and finds easy entrance into the freshly moist 

 surface, especially when the sets are planted on warm moist dung. 

 4. Don't cut the sets very small, because by doing so enough 

 nourishment is not left to support the young plant, and a sickly 

 plant will not resist disease. 5. Don't plant the sets very close, 

 because the more the air can play about the stalks the healthier the 

 plant will be. 6. Plant early, so that the tubers may be well 

 developed before the period at which blight usually sets in, because 

 the blight always produces the worst effect on the crop when young. 



