90 



very favourable circumstances, and great care is 

 bestowed throughout the growth, one eye only may 

 be left in each set. All that is absolutely necessary is 

 that sufficient food shall be left to give the plant a start 

 until it can establish itself in the soil. To cut down to 

 a single eye where the land is poor or badly prepared 

 is folly. Under ordinary circumstances two eyes at 

 least should be left, as, if from frost, insect-attack, or 

 injury, the only shoot is destroyed, the plant is dead, 

 and the ground allotted to it is wasted. When very 

 small sets are cut out they should be divided from the 

 main set in such a way that each section is as nearly as 

 possible of the same size. When cutting a set to form 

 two sets it is usually advisable to divide it lengthwise, 

 from rose to heel ; but if the set is narrow it is best to 

 cut it, dividing the rose from the heel end. 



Change of Seed. 



If seed of the same stock is sown on the same land, 

 and under similar conditions, for a number of years, 

 many of its valuable characteristics are lost, and the 

 cultivation becomes unprofitable. The effect of not 

 changing the soil is very similar to in-breeding with 

 live-stock the plant becomes enfeebled in every way, 

 it is more susceptible to disease, it deteriorates in 

 cooking properties, loses its yielding powers, and 

 becomes untrue to type. , It is therefore necessary 

 to obtain seed grown on soil differing as widely as 

 possible from that on which it is to be planted, and it 

 is advantageous that it should have been grown in 



