POTATO 101 



failing to find them to give preference to calcareous and sandy soils 

 rather than to clays or retentive soils of any kind. 



There prevails much prejudice against manuring land for Potatoes, 

 and where the land is strong enough to make a paying crop, it may 

 be prudent to do without manure, and to give a good dressing for the 

 next crop to restore the land to a reasonable condition. But it is 

 the practice of many of the most successful market growers in the 

 country to manure for this crop, and in some instances the manure 

 long, and but half- rotted is laid in the trenches at the time of planting, 

 and the sets are laid on the manure, and closed in with the earth 

 from the sides ; the work being done with mechanical accuracy, so as 

 to consume the least amount of time possible, but leaving the field in 

 an orderly state. Generally speaking, land intended for Potatoes 

 should be deeply dug, and, if needful, manured in the autumn. About 

 twenty to thirty cartloads of half-rotten manure per acre may be dug 

 or ploughed in to as great a depth as possible, consistent with the 

 nature of the subsoil, and the appliances at command. In breaking 

 up pasture with the spade, bastard trenching will generally prove 

 advantageous. The land is lined off in two-feet breadths, and the top 

 spit of the first piece is removed to the last piece, which will often 

 be close at hand by the rule of working a certain distance down and 

 back again. The under spit will then be well broken up, and the 

 manure thrown in, and the top spit of the next piece will be turned 

 in turf downwards, making a sandwich of the manure. If this is done 

 in autumn, there will be a mellow top crust produced by the spring, 

 and the best way to plant will be in trenches unless the land is very 

 light, in which case the dibber may be used. 



As light lands are often profitably devoted to Potato culture, and 

 more especially to the production of first-class early Potatoes for the 

 markets, a few words on their management may be useful here. If 

 on the light land you have a choice of aspects, by all means select 

 the plots that slope to the south-west ; the dangerous aspects are 

 north and east. The land should be ploughed up in autumn and 

 left rough, but it is not economical to manure light lands in autumn. 

 At the time of planting, the furrows should be cut with a plough 

 fitted with a double mould-board, and the manure spread evenly 

 along them previous to laying in the sets. A good dressing per acre 

 will consist of fifteen loads of farmyard manure, and four cwt. of 

 artificials, consisting of one and a half cwt. of guano, two of super- 

 phosphate of lime, and half a cwt. of muriate of potash. When the 

 sets are laid, cover them by splitting the ridges with the plough. If 



