POTATO 107 



adopted in the south, where the conditions of success appear to be 

 still more favourable. To insure the highest possible return, it 

 is absolutely necessary that the sets should be carefully sprouted in 

 advance of the planting time. This is easily managed by placing 

 the tubers in shallow wooden trays or baskets fully exposed to 

 light and air, but heat must be avoided, or the sets will be forced 

 injuriously. The result is a growth of short stout shoots, that are 

 ready at once to make a healthy start. The land is previously opened 

 in wide ridges, and when planting time arrives the furrows are heavily 

 dressed with manure. The sets are laid upon the manure at proper 

 distances, and the ridges are split so as to make a new ridge above 

 them. For the first crop some reliable early Potato is chosen, and 

 while it is growing the trays are filled again with a main-crop or late 

 variety for sprouting. The early crop is fit to lift in from eight to 

 eleven weeks, and can be placed in the market when prices rule high. 

 The ground is at once opened again into ridges and furrows by the 

 double mould-board plough, care being taken that the ridges are in 

 exactly the same positions that they occupied over the first crop. 

 The furrows are then dressed with manure, upon which the sets are 

 placed, and the ridges are split to cover them as before. In about a 

 week the shaws begin to be visible, and the usual routine is followed. 

 Thus the second crop is practically grown on fresh soil, and the pro- 

 duce is ready in ample time for the late season trade. This practice 

 necessitates very liberal dressings of manure, but it is a thoroughly 

 paying procedure, and the land is finally left in capital condition for 

 carrying a crop of Cabbage. 



The disease will always claim mention in a paper on the Potato. 

 We intend to dismiss the subject in a few words. In entering into 

 Potato culture, whether upon a large or small scale, we must do the 

 same as in entering upon any other undertaking. We count the 

 cost and consider the risks, and hope for a profit. The aid which 

 scientific men have rendered towards the suppression of disease is 

 at present limited to the knowledge they have acquired as to the 

 history and character of the Potato fungus. This will no doubt 

 ultimately result in practical benefit. But up to the present time 

 the murrain has to be fought with the plough, spade, draining tool, and 

 above all with a wise selection of sorts. Now it is an acknowledged 

 fact that many indeed we might say almost all Potatoes that have 

 been cultivated for a number of years appear to have lost their 

 vigour, and are liable to succumb to the disease ; but several kinds 

 that have recently been raised from seed possess a constitution 



