846 PRACTICE OP AGRICULTURE. Part III. 



TTiey require i great deal of manure, while, generally speaking, little is returned by themj they ate a 

 bulky unhandy article, troublesome In the lifting and carrying processes, and Interfering with the seed 

 icaaon of wheat, the moat Important one to hlmj and, from particular circumstances, thej cannot i>e 



vended unleM when raised in the vicinity of large towni : ii * they are in most respects an unprofitable 



article To the fanner, the real criterion i« the profit which potatoea will return in I ists: and 



here, we apprehend, the result will altogether be In favour of turnip*, and rutabaga, as the most profitable 

 articles for thai purpose, 



What it coded the yam, or Surinam potato, was formerly considered of importance to the farmer, 



at .in assistanl tn bi- turnip crop, or rather ■ succedaneura, which la of material benefit when turnips are 



timed ; but ai this variety cannot be used as human food, the extension of its culture cannot be 



recommended. By cultivating any ofthe good eating sorts tor the use of cattle, a succedaneum may be 



bad iv>r the human species in years of scarcity. 



5298. The value of potatoea as a fallow rm/i, and as an article of* food for cattle com- 

 pared with turnips and cabbages for the same purposes, Marshal observes, may be con- 

 sidi red llms : — 



Potato** are wore nutritious ; and, in the opinion of those who have used them, fatten cattle 

 much quicker than •• ther turnips or cabbages. Potatoes, too, being secured from the severities of winter, 

 are a more certain article of fatting than turnips or cabbages ; both of which are liable to perish under 

 an alternation of frost and thaw ; and the turnip, more particularly, is locked up, or rendered more diffi- 

 cult tn be come at, during a continuance of snow or frost. Turnips and cabbages, if they out-weather the 

 severities of winter, occupy the soil in the spring when it should be prepared for the succeeding crop j 

 while potatoes, if properly laid up, are a food which may be continued without inconvenjency until the 

 cattle be finished, or the grass has acquired the requisite bite for finishing them in the field. On the other 

 hand, potatoes are a disagreeable cmi> to cultivate: the planting is a tedious dirty business ; and taking 

 them uii may be called the filthiest work of husbandry, especially in a wet autumn. A powerful argu- 

 ment for the extensive culture of potatoes as food for live stock is, that in seasons of scarcity they can be 

 adopted as human food. Here, as in many other points, the opinion of Marshal and other English agricul- 

 turists is rsther at variance with that ofthe Northumberland and Berwickshire cultivators. In Berwick- 

 shire and Roxburghshire, a crop of potatoes is often taken before turnips, by means of which the land is 

 restored to a fertile state. 



•5300. The varieties ofthe potato are innumerable : they differ in theii leaves and hulk 

 of haulm; in the colour of the skin of the tubers; in the colour of the interior com- 

 pared with that of the skin ; in the time of ripening ; in being farinaceous, glutinous, or 

 watery; in tasting agreeably or disagreeably; in cooking readily or tediously; in the 

 length of the subterraneous stolones to which the tubers are attached ; in blossoming 

 or not blossoming ; and, finally, in the soil which they prefer. 



5.301. The earliest varieties nf the potato are chiefly cultivated in gardens, and therefore we shall only 

 notice such early sorts as are grown in the fields. These are — 



The earl J kidney, The nonsuch, The early shaw, and The early champion. 



The last is the most generally cultivated round London ; it is very prolific, hardy, and mealy. Early 

 varieties, with local names, are cultivated near most large towns, especially Manchester, Liverpool, Glas- 

 gow, Edinburgh, and the metropolis. 



5302. The late field varieties in most repute are — 



The red-nosed kidney. Black skin, white interior, and pood. 



Larffe kidn.-y. Purple, very mca'i , producti* , and k<-eps well. 



Bread fruit, raised in 1S10, from seed, and este< med one of Red apple, mealy, keeps the longest of an j. 



tie- best field potatoes, being white, mealy, well tasted, Tartan, or purp e and white skinned, an esteemed Fcolch 



and prolific. pot-uo, prolific, mealy, exceedingly well ta.-tt.d, aad kieps 



Lancashire pink eye, good. well. 



5303. The varieties groten exclusively as food for live stock are — 



The yam or Surinam potato ; large, red and white skinned, The ox noble ; large, ytllow without and within, very prolific, 



anil the interior veinet with red ; flavour disajrroeal le, and not lit to e it. 



Hot such as to admit of its lii-ine. ustd as human food. It The late champion; large and prolific, white skinned, and may 



su cceds best on heavy lands. be used as human food. 



flew varieties of potatoes are procured with the greatest ease. The following directions are given 

 in a useful work on this plant : — Pluck off the apples when the stalk lias ceased to vegetate and is drying up. 

 The seed being then fully ripe, break the apple in a hair sieve, wash the pulp clean from the seeds, and 

 dry them in the sun ; then sow the seed in beds in March, and take the potatoes up in October. They 

 will attain the size of nutmegs, or at most be no larger than walnuts. Select the fairest and best, and keep 

 them secure from frost by thoroughly drying, and intermixing;, and covering them with sifted wood or 

 coal-ashes. Plant them in April following, at the distance of fifteen inches asunder; ami when the plant 

 is two inches high, hill them with fresh earth. This may be done several times, constantly taking care to 

 keep them clean from weeds. Obsei ve when the stalks decay ; some will be found decaying much sooner 

 than others ; these are the early kinds, but those that decay last are the sorts which come late. Take 

 them up in rotation as they ripen, and let the produce of each potato be kept separate till the next year. 

 Such as come early may be tried as soon as they are taken up, by dressing one or two : should they be 

 approved, the remainder may be preserved ; but those which are late should not be tried before January 

 or February, for it will be found that the late kind of potatoes, newly raised, are very sort, and cut like 

 soap, until they have been In aided a certain time, when they become mealy. Under each stalk you may 

 expect to find a gallon of potatoes; those planted the third year may, perhaps, produce two sacks; and 

 their increase afterwards will be very considerably greater. Thus it takes full three years to form an ade- 

 quate judgment oi potatoes raised from seed ; and, after all, if one in ten succeed so as to be worth pre- 

 serving, it is as much as can be reasonably expected, In general, the produce of the seed will resemble 

 the parent stock ; but red varieties will give both white and red offspring, and among the offspring of 

 kidneys will be found round shape 1 tubers One great advantage of raising varieties from seed is alleged 

 to be the iuvigoration ofthe vegetative principle. 



5305. Some iff the earlier sorts of potatoes do not blossom, and consequently do not, under ordinary 

 management, produce seeds. To procure blossoms and seeds from these.it is necessary, from time to 

 time, during the early part of the summer, to remove the earth from the roots of the plants, and pick off 

 the tubers or potatoe- as they begin to form. By thus preventing the strength of the plant from being 

 employed in forming tubers at the root, it will flow into the leaves and herbage, and produce blossoms and 

 apples. Knight, the president of the Horticultural Society, by adopting this practice, succeeded in pro- 

 curing seeds from some sorts of potatoes which had never before produced blossoms; and from these 

 da he raised excellent varieties, some hardy and less early, others small and very early. He farther 

 impregnated the blossoms produced by these early potatoes with other sorts, some early and some late (in 

 the way in which graziers cross the breeds of cattle to improve the offspring), ami he succeeded in producing 

 varieties, more early than late sorts, and more hardy and prolific than any early potatoes he had seen. 



