POTATO. 



POTATO. 



the plant and produce from the latter being | sandy, drained, peaty, or loamy description, 

 much inferior. lit delights in fresh soils; those of a newly 



The potatoes most valued in field culture are [ broken-up meadow, old woodlands, or the site 

 the ox-noble, yam, champion, purple-red, rough- j of old yards or buildings, are excellent. It 

 red, hundred-eyes, kidney, and Moulton white. ! does not do well on wet clays. 

 The nutritive qualities of these were examined j Potatoes are readily consumed by live-stock 

 by Mr. George Sinclair, with his usual accu- j in their unboiled state; but, generally speak 

 racy. "The yam," he observes, "is a very " 

 productive variety, attains to a large size, but 

 is often hollow, and less nutritive than most 



others ; 64 drachms afford of nutritive matter 

 190 grains, which consist of starch 164 grains, 

 and saccharine and albuminous matters 31." 



The ox-noble is a productive potato, adapted 

 for stock; and 64 drachms of it contain 194 

 grains of nutritive matter, consisting of starch 

 164, and saccharine, mucilaginous, and albu- 

 minous matters 31. 



The purple-red is smaller than the ox-noble, 

 but well-flavoured, and very prolific in light, 

 moist soils: 64 drachms afforded 200 grains of 

 nutritive matter, consisting of starch 169, and 

 albuminous and saccharine matters 31 grains. 



The hundred-eye is very prolific on dry 

 loams ; 64 drachms afford 218 grains of nutri- 

 tive matter, composed of 170 grains of starch, 

 and the rest albuminous and other matters. 



The rough-red produces plentiful crops on 

 soils or climates of a moister nature than that 

 adapted for the hundred-eyed variety : it is 

 well-flavoured; 64 drachms afford 250 grains 

 of nutritive matter, which is composed of 199 

 starch, and 46 mucillage, sugar, and albumen. 



The champion grows to a moderate size; is 

 veiy productive, and little subject to the disease 

 called ntrl. 



It is, hence, of great importance, in choosing 

 seed potatoes, to consider the nature of the soil 

 and climate ; thus some of our finest varieties, 

 which yield abundantly when planted in suit- 

 able soils and moist situations, will yield but 

 inferior returns when pjanted in drier situa- 

 tions. 



ing, they are best when steamed and mixed 

 with chaff. 



The cultivation of the potato is thus de- 

 scribed by Mr. George Johnson ; and although 

 his remarks were intended for the gardener, 

 yet they apply in a great measure to the field 

 culture of this valuable root. 



The varieties of the potato are numerous, 

 and continually increasing, as well as becom- 

 ing extinct; the number, however, is very 

 largely increased by local names for the same 

 variety being classed distinct. 



For forcing, or first crop in the open ground: 

 there are Broughton Dwarf, Early Warwick, 

 Ash-leaved Kidney; Fox's Seedling, Early- 

 Manly, Early Mule, earliest for general culti- 

 vation, Barley Kidney, Nonsuch, Early Shaw, 

 Goldfinger. 



For main crops, the varieties are ranged in 

 this class, according to their forwardness in 

 ripening: Early Champion, Ox Noble, Red- 

 nose Kidney, Large Kidney, Bread-fruit, Red- 

 streak or Lancashire Pink-eye, Black Skin, 

 Purple, Red Apple, Rough Rod. 



No inhabitant of the garden varies more in 

 quality in different gardens than the potato ; 

 for a variety will have a strong, unpleasant 

 flavour in one soil, that has a sweet, agreeable 

 one in another. In a heavy, wet soil, or a rank 

 black loam, though the crop is often fine and 

 abundant, it is scarcely ever palatable. Sili- 

 cious soils, even approaching to gravel, though 

 in these last the tubers are usually corroded or 

 scabby, are always to be planted in preference 

 to the above. A dry, mouldy, fresh, and mode- 

 rately rich soil is unquestionably the best for 

 every variety of the potato ; and, for the 

 earliest crop, it may be with advantage more 

 silicious than for the main ones. The black- 

 skinned and rough red thrive better than any 

 in moist or strong, cold soils. If manure is 

 necessary, whatever may be the one employed, 

 it is better spread regularly over the surface 

 previous to digging, rather than put into the 

 holes with the sets, or spread in the trench 

 when they are so planted. Stable dung is, 

 perhaps, the best of all factitious manures: 

 sea-weed is a very beneficial addition to the 

 soil, as is salt. Coal-ashes and sea-sand are 

 applied with great benefit to retentive soils ; 

 but calcareous matter should never be used. 

 The situation must always be open. 



It is propagated in general from cuttings of 

 the tubers, though the shoots arising from 

 thence and layers of the stalks may be em- 

 ployed. New varieties are raised from seed. 

 Planting in the open ground of the early kinds 

 may commence towards the close of February, 

 in a warm situation, and may thence be con- 

 tinued until the same period of March ; and it 

 r _ j is only during this latter month that any con- 

 bacon salt, or other refuse common salt, has , siderable plantation should be made, as the 



The soluble matters consisted of gum, or 

 mucilage, extractive, and saline matters. 



The potato, although a tender plant, is grown 

 in nearly all parts of the world, from the equa- 

 tor to Norway; and although it is usual to 

 plant it early in the spring, yet it is possible, by 

 choosing a quick-ripening variety, to plant it 

 successfully even as late as July. 



The best manures for the potato crop are 

 common farm-yard compost, only partially de- 

 composed, decayed leaves, sea-weed, the po- 

 tato haulm, and any organic manures, that, 

 while they afford nutriment, have a tendency, 

 by rendering the soil lighter, to facilitate the 

 extension of the roots. Lime is injurious to it. 

 Pond mud or ditch scrapings, to each cubic 

 yard of which, a month previously, a bushel of 



been mixed, is excellent. The soils best adapted 

 for the cultivation of the potato are of the light, 



late frost are apt to injure, or even to destroy 

 the advancing plants. In the course of April, 



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