438 THE POTATO 



author, is the following discussion of the situation in 

 the United Kingdom by Walter P. Wright and Ed- 

 ward J. Castle, taken from their very clever book, 

 "Pictorial Practical Potato Growing," and used 

 with their permission and that of the publishers, 

 Cassell & Co. of London: 



"Ireland has always taken more kindly to the 

 potato than the other countries of the United 

 Kingdom, and she still boasts a larger acreage 

 devoted to this crop than England, Scotland, and 

 Wales combined. From various causes, this 

 acreage has, however, been steadily decreasing 

 for some fifteen years, the decrease being chiefly 

 accounted for by the emigration of potato growers, 

 and changes introduced into the diet of the in- 

 habitants. Still, in 1904, Ireland could boast of 

 618,540 acres devoted to potato growing, as 

 against 570,209 acres owned by England, Scotland, 

 and Wales. These figures showed a decrease for 

 Ireland, and an increase for the rest of the king- 

 dom, an increase which was augmented to 608,473 

 acres in 1905. 



"It is gratifying to know that efforts are being 

 made to check the decrease In Ireland, chiefly by the 

 production of very early potatoes for the English 

 market, and of others suitable for seed purposes. 

 Experiments hi growing early potatoes on a small 

 scale were made in Ireland in 1901, and proved so 

 successful that each succeeding year has seen an 

 increase hi this direction. The climatic conditions 

 of the west coast of Ireland seem exceptionally 

 well fitted to the production of early potatoes, 

 and there are not wanting experts to prophesy 

 that Ireland may yet compete successfully with 

 Jersey and St. Malo. 



