POTATOES 369 



The line of true economy to be followed by the owner of a small 

 kitchen garden is that of seeking to make his plot yield its produce 

 almost all the year round. Rotation of crops, as was emphasised 

 in the preceding chapter, is the principle he should adopt. If he 

 do so he will find that his few rods of ground will give him in turn 

 early potatoes, early peas, and a good supply of main crop peas ; 

 that when his early potatoes have been removed he will have space 

 in which to grow turnips, spinach and lettuce, and that later on 

 the ground can be profitably occupied by a variety of winter greens 

 which will be available for culinary use from November until 

 early spring comes round again. 



This brings me back to the point that there is real luxury to be 

 gained by the cultivation of early potatoes. There are difficulties 

 to be encountered, but they are not insurmountable. And the 

 first that will confront the inexperienced amateur will undoubtedly 

 be the choice of suitable varieties. Let him for a start make an 

 experiment with one of the early ashleafs, of which there are 

 several excellent kinds such as Carter's Improved, Hyatt's, or 

 Veitch's. Other varieties to select from are Button's May Queen, 

 Sharpe's Victor, Mid-Lothian Early, Ringleader, Sharpe's Express, 

 Early Regent, Sir John Llewelyn, and Duke of York. A trial 

 box of any of these varieties can be obtained at prices ranging 

 between one shilling and one shilling and sixpence. These will 

 contain enough tubers to plant one or two fair-sized rows, but if 

 larger quantities are required, they can be obtained at the rate of 

 from two shillings and sixpence to five shillings a peck. Half-a- 

 peck will provide enough tubers for planting twenty-five square 

 yards of ground. 



The order for the seed should be given at the end of January, 

 for this will mean the securing of sound, plump tubers, whereas if 

 their purchase be postponed there is a danger of being supplied 

 with the " fag end," and therefore the weakest of the stock. As 

 soon as the tubers arrive they should be ranged in shallow boxes 

 in the manner indicated in Diagram 63. This is for the purpose 

 of inducing " sprouting." The advantages of this method over 

 the old haphazard practice of taking sets from tubs and clamps 



2A 



