KITCHEN GARDENING. Ill 



have been contrived with a view to find out the best method 

 of preparing the seed. In many parts of England (where Pota- 

 toes equal to any in the world are raised), the farmers seldom 

 plant them whole ; they take the Potatoes as they come to 

 hand, atd in cutting them, take care to have two good eyes in 

 each set ; the small Potatoes are deprived of the sprout or nose- 

 end, as it is generally considered that a redundancy of eyes 

 exhausts the set, and produces weak plants, which are n\)t cal- 

 culated to yield a full crop. I have frequently known from five 

 to six hundred bushels raised from an acre with small Potatoes 

 alone cut in this way. Some prefer planting the sets immedi- 

 ately after they are cut. The better way is to get them cut a 

 week before the time of planting, and to lay them out on a 

 barn or garret-floor to dry. 



It will require from twelve to sixteen bushels of Potatoes to 

 plant an acre of ground, according to the size and nature of the 

 seed-roots, the manner of preparing, and mode of planting the 

 same. 



Potatoes may be planted from the . first week in April until 

 July, either in hills or drills ; the best way for a gardener is to 

 plant them in drills four or five inches deep, and about thirty 

 inches asunder. The sets may be dropped six or eight inches 

 apart ; and if a small quantity of comb-maker's horn shavings, 

 bone-dust, or sea-weed, be used as a manure for the early 

 kinds, it will expedite their growth. The ground should be 

 hoed as soon as the plants come up, and a few times after this. 

 Level cultivation is better than hilling. 



"It is desirable, not only to get the best varieties for seed, 

 but to know how to plant them and to raise the largest and 

 best crop. 



" The method I pursue, and which pays better, far better, 

 than any of the old systems generally practised, is as follows : 



