180 KITCHEN GARDEN. 



marked, that if the tubers of any good late variety, such as 

 the Edinburgh Don or the Stalfold Hall, be buried in the 

 earth so deep as to prevent vegetation, and kept there till 

 the beginning of autumn, or if their growth be in any way 

 retarded, and if they be planted at that season of the year, 

 young potatoes may thus be procured, during the winter 

 season, by merely preventing the access of frost with a 

 covering of litter. 



Potatoes are commonly propagated by dividing the tubers, 

 leaving to each cut, one or two eyes or buds. The sets are 

 then planted by the aid of the dibble or spade, in rows at a 

 distance varying from fifteen inches to two feet. It was 

 suggested by the late Mr. Knight, and his views have been 

 amply confirmed by experiment, that by planting whole 

 tubers, and at great distances, a larger produce might be 

 obtained. Mr. Knight proposed to leave four feet between 

 the rows, a distance which, except with the larger varieties, 

 was found to be unnecessarily great. An experienced hor- 

 ticulturist in Scotland states, that by planting whole tubers, 

 and by leaving in the case of dwarfs two feet ? and in the 

 tall varieties two feet and a half, between the rows, a return 

 from one-third to one-half more was obtained than could be 

 had from the old method. Of course more tubers are re- 

 quired for planting, but these bear no proportion to the 

 great increase which results ; and besides, early potatoes at 

 the planting season being unfit for table use, there is little 

 economy in sparing them. 



The earliest crop should, if possible, be placed in alight 

 soil, and in a warm situation, and should be planted about 

 the middle of March. Sometimes the eyes of the tubers 

 are made to spring or vegetate on a hotbed, and the plants 

 are put out as soon as the leaves can bear the open air. 

 Perhaps it is better, as recommended by Mr. Saul, of Lan- 



