59 



the Puritan and White Beauty belong. The Village Blacksmith, 

 though now recognised as of no value as a field potato, created 

 a sensation some three or four years ago by its peculiarly dark 

 and netted skin. Daniels' Advancer, The Daniels, and Empire 

 . State have all done well with us, the two latter being of special 

 quality. Future Fame, Stourbridge Glory, and The Bruce are 

 varieties very similar to the well-known Magnum Bonum. 



After the first planting, the seed was turned over every other 

 week and the sprouts were destroyed in order not only to 

 prevent them from heating and exhausting their vigour, but 

 also to ensure that the different plantings should start their 

 .growth on equal terms. Otherwise, had some been planted 

 with unbroken sprouts, it is quite possible they might have 

 been above ground as soon as those planted a month earlier. 

 Though the seed, generally, of the earlier varieties is often 

 sprouted and greened for forcing under garden cultivation, 

 it is practically impossible, owing to the want of space and care 

 required in handling, to effect this on a large scale in the field. 



Though the year was generally regarded as a disease-year 

 throughout the country, the weather suited the potato crops 

 in the South Midlands, and there was no more than an average 

 .amount of disease in this district (Bedfordshire), so that good 

 crops were the rule rather than the exception. The rainfall, 

 though spread out in many showers during June and July, was 

 below the average, and the weather was exceptionally fine 

 .after July 20. 



The first planting was done on March 31, two poles of each 

 variety being spaded in. After an interval of a month another 

 planting took place, a similar quantity of each of the fourteen 

 varieties being again spaded in. All that was done to the land, 

 in addition to what had been done previous to the first planting, 

 was to run the horse-hoe up the drill-marks. This was only 

 fair, as otherwise the land would have become somewhat set, 

 and the potatoes would not have gone in so well at the later as 



