On the Failure of the Potato Crop. 319 



The first volume, now complete, contains 72 highly finished por- 

 traits of those varieties in greatest esteem, drawn from speci- 

 mens in the highest state of perfection ; besides occasional wood- 

 cuts of new plants, and illustrations of every operatiorv in which 

 there was a possibility of ambiguity ; and no expense or labour 

 has been spared to render the work pleasing, instructive, and 

 practically useful. Every flower which we figure is drawn and 

 coloured from the flower itself, while in the very bloom of its 

 beauty; and every mode of treatment which we recommend is 

 that which is practised by the most successful cultivator of the 

 species; and, in most instances, it comes directly from the breeder 

 or the grower of the specimen which we figure. It gives us 

 pleasure to add, that we can confidently rely on the invariable 

 support of all the more eminent breeders and growers of flowers, 

 both for the choicest specimens, and for the most improved modes 

 of treatment." 



The subjects treated of in the first volume are, Auricula, Al- 

 strcemerzff, Amaryllis, Chrysanthemum, CamelhV/, Carnation, 

 Campanula, DahhV/, Gaulther/V?, Gladiolus, Hyacinth, Aarcissus, 

 Pansies, Primrose, Pinks, Polyanthus, Pelargoniums, Picotees, 

 Phlox, Rhodochiton, Rose, Rhododendron, Tulip, Tigridia, 

 /''erbena, and Window-Gardening. 



Art. IV. Practical Remarks on the Failure of the Potato Crop ; 

 tvilh Insti-uctions how to Remedy the Evil. By William Stent, 

 Nursery and Seedsman, East Stockwith, near Gainsburgh, Lincoln- 

 shire. 8vo, pp. 19. Gainsburgh. 



The remote cause of the failures in the potato Mr. Stent at- 

 tributes to our late very mild winters ; another, and proximate 

 cause is, the wretched manner in which the potatoes are kept 

 through winter, in heaps thatched with straw, and covered with 

 earth; in which state they heat and vegetate immediately, and 

 have quite exhausted themselves before the plantiufi- season ; 

 and a third cause is, too late planting. 



" Potatoes," Mr. Stent says, ought to be " all planted by the last week in 

 April, or, at the latest, by the first week in May ; and, to accomplish tills, every 

 possible exertion ought to be made to prepare the ground in autumn. Where 

 the land is not in dani^er of being flooded dunng winter, the manure .should 

 be worked into the l.id in autumn, and incorporated with the soil so that 

 the young fibres may receive the benefit of it ; which they cannot do under 

 the old system of confining the manure close to the potatoes when planted in 

 the rows." 



Mr. Stent next describes the course of treatment which he 

 would recommend to l)e pursued with potatoe tubers in autumn 

 which are intended for planting in the following spriiio-. 



" First of all," he says, " they ought to be picked out by hand from the 

 rest at the time of taking up the crop ; and that each ought to be of a size 



