SECTION IV 



TUBEROUS ROOTED VEGETABLES 



TUBEROUS-ROOTED vegetables, represented by the 

 household Potato, may be generally given a light soil, 

 the wisdom of which proceeding is exemplified in the 

 fact of the large amount of room required for tuber develop- 

 ment, and the fatal results which must ensue if a hard, unyielding 

 soil is to be fought during such development. Waterlogged 

 ground, too, is to be avoided ; and depredations by slugs, and 

 wire-worms, are to be guarded against. The other members of 

 this group are well worth consideration. The gardener possess- 

 ing a light, sandy soil, well manured, and the means of main- 

 taining a fair moisture, has the best medium for tuber-production. 



THE POTATO (Solanum tuberosum) . The humble Potato 

 is generally supposed to be simply an article of diet, but there 

 are other uses made of it. By chemically treating them, 

 Potatoes are quickly turned into a beautiful hard substance 

 from which many so-called ivory articles are made. Enormous 

 quantities of starch are also made from Potatoes. In America 

 16,000 tons are annually used for this purpose, the starch being 

 obtained from small tubers thrown out during grading; sixty 

 bushels yield one barrel of starch. Spirits and other chemical 

 products are also obtained from Potatoes. 



For edible purposes, the Potato has proved itself invaluable. 

 At the present moment of writing, the Potato supply is a burning 

 question in certain quarters, and a most important one in nearly 

 every country, thus showing the large part Potatoes take in 

 providing the world's food. A wise gardener is he who grows 

 Potatoes but there are limits to such action ! A great mistake 

 is made by possessors of small gardens endeavouring to raise a 

 quantity of main-crop Potatoes from a piece of ground of small 



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