440 THE POTATO 



age of the ten years 1895-1904 being: Scotland, 

 5.90 tons; England, 5.84 tons; Wales, 5.36 tons, 

 and Ireland, 3.83 tons per acre (a ton is thirty- 

 seven-and one half bushels). 



"The bulk of English potatoes is grown in the 

 counties of Lincolnshire, Yorkshire, Lancashire, 

 Cheshire, and Cambridgeshire. In 1905 the fol- 

 lowing acreage was under potatoes in the respect- 

 ive counties: Lincoln, 79,564; Yorks, 57,364; 

 Lanes, 47,697; Cheshire, 26,642; and Cambridge, 

 26,039. Lincolnshire is the centre of the English 

 seed potato industry, and Lines seed potatoes 

 have a reputation second only to the best Scottish. 

 Cornwall, which has only an area of 4,822 acres 

 devoted to potatoes, has generally the honor of 

 placing the earliest English grown potatoes on the 

 market. These follow the supply from the Chan- 

 nel Islands, the latter, however, being preceded by 

 supplies from Malta and the Canary Islands. The 

 Maltese potatoes reach our shores in November, 

 and have recently become so popular that quite 

 a flourishing trade has been built up. 



"In Scotland, the acreage of potatoes has rap- 

 idly increased, 144,265 acres being required for 

 the crop of 1905, while 137,735 acres sufficed for 

 that of 1904. This increase is mainly attribu- 

 table to the enormous demand for Scottish seed 

 potatoes, a demand created largely by the results 

 of experiments conducted by scientists to deter- 

 mine the relative value of seed from various sources. 

 But Scottish ware potatoes also hold their own 

 against the world, the famous Dunbars frequently 

 being quoted at 20s. ($4.80) per ton above all 

 others. These tubers possess a remarkably 

 bright and taking appearance, combined with 

 high cooking quality, for which the peculiar kind 



