88 



This absurd practice prevails in many parts of Ireland. 

 The reason for doing this is that the set may decay 

 speedily. The practice doubtless originated from the 

 idea that the decaying set was liable to cause disease 

 in the plant, and the sooner it was destroyed the 

 better. This idea has exploded. The origin of the 

 blight is now known. The old set plays a useful 

 part in attracting insects, such as julus worms, which 

 frequently feed on that in preference to the young 

 tubers, which they would otherwise infest. 



Cutting Seed Potatoes. 



It has been frequently shown in experiments that 

 more robust plants, and plants which mature more 

 quickly, are obtained from sets cut from the "rose" 

 end of the potato. The rose end is that which 

 contains the larger number of eyes, and is fa.rthest 

 from the place where the tuber was attached to the 

 stem. The opposite end is known as the "heel." 

 Casual observation shows that the eyes at the rose 

 end are the first to commence growth, and while this 

 is the case it is only likely that they will be the 

 stronger in an uncut potato, as they get the first 

 chance of the food contained in it ; but when there is 

 an equal amount of food in the divided portions there 

 appears no reason why there should be any difference 

 in the vigour of the shoots, but analyses have been 

 made which show there is more starch in the rose 

 end. In practice on a large scale the difference is 

 not readily noticed. In gardens where the cultivation 



