THE POTATO. 19? 



with few or no small ones, it should be early and be 

 popular enough in the Northern market to command the 

 highest prices. At present the " Early Rose " meets these 

 requirements and is generally the favorite, but the 

 " Early Sunrise," "Beauty of Hebron," and the "Bur- 

 bank," are also planted. The potato grown in Bermuda 

 is the "Chili Red." Recently some Charleston farmers 

 have planted this variety in preference to the " Early 

 Rose," the latter not having given satisfaction. 



SIZE OF SEED. 



One of the mooted questions in gardening is : shall we 

 plant the whole potato or cut it up into sets ? Experi- 

 ments have failed to establish any certain rule ; and the 

 intelligent farmer will understand that circumstances 

 must govern the case. 



The potato tuber is not a root, for it has neither root- 

 hairs itself, nor has the stem which connects it with 

 the parent stock either fibrous roots or root-hairs and, 

 therefore, provides the plant with no nourishment; nor 

 is it a seed any more than is a stick of sugar cane a seed. 

 The tubers are nourished by elaborated sap descending 

 from the leaves through the bark. The formation of 

 abnormal tubers above the ground at the point where 

 the stem of a plant has been injured by a cut- worm, or 

 otherwise, or in the axils of branches, is, among others, 

 a proof of this. The potato is an enlarged underground 

 stem, and the eyes are buds. These buds are more numer- 

 ous at the point furthest from the plant, just as the buds 

 are closer together at the end of a branch of the fig or 

 any other tree. When the potato has dried out suffi- 

 ciently and is surrounded by favorable conditions of 

 warmth and moisture, the eyes or buds begin to grow; 

 and until roots have been emitted for their nourishment, 

 the shoots are dependent upon the starch of the sur- 

 rounding substance for their support; resembling a seed 

 in this respect. The eyes are independent of each other, 



