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in which there is an intermingling with gravel, are pro- 

 ductive of potatoes of good quality ; but those with an 

 excess of gravel sometimes suffer in droughty seasons. 

 The peaty soils of the Fen, commonly spoken of as 

 " Black Land," produce heavy crops, but except in hot 

 dry seasons the quality is very poor. Thin chalky 

 soils, the opposite of the Black Land, are not profit- 

 able for potato culture, as they are too readily affected 

 by drought, and on many there is not sufficient soil to 

 " earth up" the rows. Light but deep soils containing 

 a plentiful supply of lime are usually favourable to the 

 growth of the crop. Heavy soils, such as the clays, are 

 emphatically not suitable for the crop, as the quality 

 of the potatoes is poor except in very dry seasons, the 

 land is difficult to get into condition for planting, in 

 wet seasons the cleaning operations cannot be properly 

 effected, and the digging is almost an impossibility in 

 wet autumns. Beyond this, the crop is particularly 

 liable to disease. Whatever the soil is, unless the 

 subsoil be porous good results cannot be obtained, nor 

 will they be achieved if the land is not sufficiently 

 drained. 



Drainage. 



Good drainage is the first essential in the prepara- 

 tion of the land. One of the best fields we farm was 

 valueless for potato culture until it was drained, since 

 which it has never failed. The soil in this field is a 

 very light friable loam, with a sandy subsoil, and so far 

 as the ordinary signs of want of drainage went they 

 were almost entirely absent. One feature, however, 



