APRIL.] POTATOE CUTTJX' 



prefer May to April for this work. That opinion, 

 however, is far from general. 



POTATOE CrmXGS. 



The first operation is that of cutting ; slicing off 

 the eijGs of the potatoes, in which a good deal of 

 attention is to be used ; first, chusing from the po- 

 tatoe heap only large and fair roots, rejecting all 

 small ones, which should be thrown by for hogs, 

 &c. There should be but one eye to a slice, but 

 rather than have the slice a very small bit, two 

 may be left in it, for sizeable slices are better, es- 

 pecially if a drought succeed, than small ones, as 

 the plant in this, as well as in many other cases, 

 in its first germination derives its nourishment 

 from the set. These attentions are not stated as 

 essential points, but as circumstances which will, 

 in certain cases, have a degree of influence, which 

 render them worth some portion of thought ; and, 

 in the long run, he who attends closely to every 

 part of the business, and to all minutiae, will on 

 the average of soils, seasons, and manuring, get 

 the best crops. Some planters, who value them- 

 selves much on their skill in this culture, prefer 

 having the cuttings ready some time before plant- 

 ing, as they think a moderate keeping in that state 

 beneficial. This point does not seem to be at all 

 'essential. 



In the scarcity, scoops, for scooping out the 

 eyes in semi-globular cuttings were brought into 

 use, to save the fleshy remains of the potatoes 

 for common consumption. This pra6tice was 



p 4 much 



