AGRICULTURAL MUSEUM 71 



orate the soil; being in this respect equal to turnips j 

 and, ill general, pay the owner of the land much better. 



Some persons have objected to the general cultivation 

 of potatoes, from the apprehension of wanting a mar- 

 ket ; but while they are retailed out at two shillings and 

 six pence, or even at two shillings a bushel, (and it is ve>- 

 ry rarely that we can purchase them lower) this apprc* 

 hension will be groundless. 



Add to this, that potatoes maybe very profitably tised 

 as food for cattle and hogs. No food is better for rear- 

 ing a\id fattening the latter. Cows and oxen will also 

 cat them freely, and they are more easily preserved 

 from frost than turnips ; hence they would prove an ex- 

 cellent succedaneum at the season when spring food is 

 most wanted. 



If potatoes were introduced regularly in the farmer's 

 course of crops, on light good soils, great advantages 

 would ensue. He need not be at the trouble and ex- 

 pen cc of having them dug up clean. Let him only take 

 up the best part, and then turn his swine in : they will 

 gather and fatten on the rest, and repay their value in 

 the manure they leave behind them. 



Potatoes grow best in a soil that is loose and deep, 

 where the swelling of the roots meet the least obstruc- 

 tion, and where they draw the greatest nourishment 

 most easily. On this account, where the quantity in; 

 tended to be raised is smal!, digging is preferable to 

 ploughing, But if the land be ploughed deep, and well' 

 pulveriised, success need not be doubted. They otight 

 to be planted in lines, eighteen inches apart, and at 

 twelve or fourteen inches distance in each line or row. 

 This will give opportunity for earthing them up with the 

 horse-hoe wliile young, which will greatly promote their 

 fertility. If the horse-Iioe is not intended to be used, 

 plant them afoot square, and earth them up with hand- 

 hoes several times, which, although more expensive, will 

 repay the cost. 



Care should, however, be taken, in the latter hoeings 

 tspecially, not to go too ucar the plants, lest you cut the 



