POTATO. 247 



wash and dry them from the pulp, and preserve 

 them in paper bags till spring. About the middle 

 of April they should be sown thinly in shallow 

 drills. When about two or three inches high, thin 

 them to five or six inches' distance. Let them re- 

 main (keeping the seeds down) till the end of Oc- 

 tober, when the roots will furnish a supply of small 

 potatoes. They must then be taken up, and a por- 

 tion of the best preserved in sand for planting next 

 spring in the usual way. Plant them, and let 

 them have the ensuing summer's full growth till 

 October, at which time the tubers will have ob- 

 tained a sufficient size to determine their properties. 

 Having considered not merely the flavour of each 

 new variety, but the size, shape, and colour, and also 

 the comparative fertility and healthiness, earliness 

 or lateness, reject or retain it for permanent cul- 

 ture accordingly. 



Some persons, anxious to have new varieties, 

 sow the seed on a slight hot-bed in February. 

 When the plants rise to a few inches in height, 

 some light rich mould should be put between 

 them; give a little water occasionally, with plenty 

 of air at such times as the weather will admit. 

 Towards the end of April prepare some trenches 

 similar to those made for celery ; the plants must 

 then be carefully taken up from the seed-bed, and 

 planted at about eighteen inches distance, when a 

 garden-pot should be placed over each till they are 

 rooted, and they must afterwards be occasionally 

 earthed up. The next year they will require a 

 similar culture to that previously mentioned. 



Early potatoes in the open ground. The two 



