ROOT CROPS, CLEAN CROPS. 



VIII. ROOT CROPS, CLEAN CROPS. 



83 



THE BASIS OF AGRICULTURE. Potatoes, turnips, man- 

 golds, beets, and other root croops, in European agriculture, 

 are estimated as the very foundation of perfect farming. We 

 cannot get crops of this kind from either poor land or 

 slovenly work that is crops that pay. They must be fed, 

 and they must be kept clean ; hence the high repute of 

 root crops in skilful agriculture. 



Potatoes Treating the Seed to Make a Big Crop. 



Potatoes. In this family we recognise the potato proper 

 the " English potato," as it is misnamed ; the Americans 

 call it the " Irish potato," and have much better reason for 

 their choice, although the potato proper is an American 

 product. Then there are sweet potatoes and the large 

 family of yams. The common potato holds the first place 

 in the colonies, as it does in the mother country and 

 America. In the cooler districts of Tasmania and Victoria, 

 and in New South Wales, very fair crops of potatoes are 

 grown, which seem to have found a proper location near 

 such places as Port Fairy and Warrnambool. Crops of from 



