POTATO. 



POTATO. 



the main crops for winter's use should be in- 

 serted ; for although in favourable seasons they 

 will succeed if planted in May or even June, 

 yet it ought always to be kept in mind that the 

 earliest planted, especially in dry soils, pro- 

 duce the finest and most abundant crops. 



Of the preparation of the sets, there is a 

 great diversity of opinion. Some gardeners 

 recommend the largest potatoes to be planted 

 whole; others, these to be sliced into pieces, 

 containing two or three eyes ; a third set, to 

 cut the large tubers directly in half; a fourth, 

 the employment of the shoots only which are 

 thrown out, if potatoes are kept in a warm, 

 damp situation ; and a fifth, that merely the 

 parings be employed. Cuttings of the stalks, 

 5 or 6 inches in length, or rooted suckers, will 

 be productive, if planted during showery wea- 

 ther in May or June ; and during this last 

 month, or early in July, it may be propagated 

 by layers, which are formed by pegging down 

 the young stalks when about 12 inches long, 

 they being covered 3 inches thick with mould 

 at a joint. These three last modes are prac- 

 tised more from curiosity than utility, whilst at 

 the same time none of the first five mentioned 

 plans can be individually followed to advan- 

 tage, without modification. For the main crops, 

 it is evident, from experiment, that moderate- 

 sized sets, having two healthy buds or eyes, are 

 most advantageously employed ; middling-sized 

 whole potatoes are the best, from which all but 

 the above number of eyes have been removed, 

 but especially having the crown, which is a 

 congeries of small eyes always present, first 

 removed; for from these proceed an equal 

 number of little spindled stalks, which are 

 comparatively worthless, and injure the main 

 stem. 



For the early crops, almost the very con- 

 trary to the above is the most advantageous to 

 be practised. The set should have the crown 

 eye, which is one growing in the centre of the 

 congeries of small ones above mentioned, pre- 

 served. Some potatoes have two such eyes, 

 but the generality only one. This is always 

 the most prompt to vegetate; and if not known 

 by this description, may b^ evinced by placing 

 two or three potatoes in a pan of moist earth, 

 near the fire ; if the earth is kept moist, the 

 crown eye will be in a slate of vegetation in 

 five or six days. Again, as Mr. J. Knight re- 

 marks, although abundant crops of late varie- 

 ties may be obtained from very small sets, by 

 reason that tubers are not produced until the 

 stem and roots become capable of supplying 

 them with nourishment; yet, to obtain early 

 crops, where tubers are rapidly formed under 

 a diametrically opposite state of the plant, 

 large sets must be employed ; in these, one or 

 two eyes, at most, should be allowed to remain. 

 Mr. Knight plants the largest undivided tubers, 

 which, from experiments, evidently support the 

 plants, and finally produce the earliest and 

 largest produce he ever obtained. Another re- 

 mark, which he makes, restrictively for the 

 early crops, but may well be attended to for all, 

 is, that if the sets are placed with their leading 

 buds upwards, few and very strong early stems 

 will be produced ; but if the position is re- 

 versed, many weak and later shoots will arise, 

 928 



Jand not only the earliness, but the quality of 

 the produce be depreciated. For the earliest 

 crops, there are likewise several modes of as- 

 sisting the forward vegetation of the sets. 

 These should be prepared in November, by 

 removing every eye but one or two; and being 

 placed in a layer, in a warm room, where air 

 and light can be freely admitted, with a cover- 

 ing of straw, they soon emit shoots, which 

 must be strengthened by exposure to the air 

 and light as much as possible, by taking off 

 the covering without injuring them. During 

 cold weather, and at night, it must always be 

 renewed. The leaves soon become green, and 

 tolerably hardy. In early spring they are 

 planted out, the leaves being left just above the 

 surface, and a covering of litter afforded every 

 night, until the danger of frost is passed. The 

 only modification of this plan that is adopted 

 in Cheshire, where they are celebrated for the 

 early production of potatoes, is, that they em- 

 ploy chalf or sand for a covering instead of 

 straw. The most preferable mode of inserting 

 them, is with the dibble, in rows, for the early 

 crops, 12 inches apart each way; and for the 

 main ones 18. The set should never be placed 

 more thin 4 inches beneath the surface in the 

 lightest soil, but in the more tenacious ones, 

 3 is the extreme. The potato dibble is the best 

 instrument that can be employed; one person 

 striking the holes, and a second dropping the 

 sets, the earth being afterwards raked or struck 

 in with the spade. There are several other 

 modes of insertion, as opening a small hole 

 with a narrow spade, and the set being dropped 

 in, it is covered by the earth taken out in form- 

 ing the next hole: or, at the time of digging 

 over the ground, a second person follows the 

 one so employed, and places the sets in the 

 trench he opens in the pursuance of his work; 

 but both these modes are open to numerous 

 obvious objections. 



The compartment may be laid out level and 

 undivided, if the soil is mouldy and favour- 

 able ; but if a heavy one is necessarily em- 

 ployed, it is best disposed in beds, 6 or 8 feet 

 wide. If the staple of the soil is good through- 

 out, the alleys may be 2 feet wide, and dug deep, 

 otherwise they must be made broader, and only 

 one spit taken out, the earth removed being 

 employed to raise the beds. If the land is low 

 and wet, it is still further of advantage, after 

 the beds, which should not be more than 4 feet 

 wide, have been thus raised, if they are dug in 

 parallel ridges, and the sets inserted along their 

 summits. Some gardeners, on such soils, with- 

 out digging the surface, lay some long litter on 

 the intended beds; upon this the sets being 

 placed, some more litter is thrown regularly 

 over them ; the earth is then dug from the 

 alleys, and turned to the requisite depth over 

 the whole. As soon as the plants are well to 

 be distinguished, they should be perfectly freed 

 from weeds ; arid, of the early crops, the earth 

 drawn round each plant, so as to form a cup, 

 as a shelter from the cold winds, which are 

 their chief enemy at that season ; but the main 

 crops need not be earthed up until the plants 

 are 6 inches in height. It is contended by 

 some that this practice is immaterial in its 

 effect. If the earth is brought so as to be of 



