182 VEGETABLE GARDENING. 



seedling 1 potatoes from 1848 to 1864. Out of this large num- 

 ber, he found only about one in a thousand that he thought 

 enough better than the old sorts to make it appear probable 

 that they would be desirable for cultivation. The work that 

 he did in this line has been of great value to Europe and 

 America 



Soil and Manure. If given proper treatment, potatoes can be 

 grown on soil of almost any composition, provided it is well 

 drained, but a light, rich soil is best. The kind of soil to 

 some extent affects the quality of the tubers; grown on sandy 

 soil, they are generally of better table quality than on clay 

 soils, and when grown on muck land the skin is generally 

 dark colored and the flesh not mealy. New soil is most de- 

 sirable, and in it the tubers are generally healthy; sod land 

 is most excellent for this crop, but the "seed" should always 

 be under the sod and not on top of it. If planted on the sod, 

 the crop is very certain to be seriously injured in dry seasons. 

 It is not generally advisable to manure the land the season of 

 planting potatoes but preferably to apply it to some previous 

 crop, but if manure is to be applied it should be well 

 rotted. Raw stable manure is to be avoided, unless it can be 

 applied a year in advance. In applying manure, it is very 

 important not to use that from animals which have been fed 

 on scabby potatoes, as such manure is liable to cause scabbi- 

 ness in the crop. 



The Sets (Commonly Called "Seed.") The tubers for planting 

 should be sound and not sprouted — though if sprouted they 

 may do well; sprouting injures the vitality of the potatoes and 

 is harmful. We should regard the potato much as we do a 

 willow or other plant that grows freely from dormant cuttings 

 if it has the right soil conditions, for it is truly a stem. Given 

 good, sound seed potatoes for planting and good soil con- 

 ditions, it matters little how the sets are cut, provided that 

 every eye that grows is on a piece of potato large enough to 

 nourish the young sprout until it has a good root system and 

 enough expanded leaves to gather and digest its own 

 food. In practice the "sets" should have one, two or 

 three eyes according to whether the tubers have few or many 

 eyes. Varieties with few eyes, such as the Rural New Yorker 

 No. 2, should be cut to about one eye to a piece, while those 



