56 VEGECUtTURE 



fashion, which will allow sufficient space, when another row of 

 Potato " sets " may be planted. This system, I consider, is 

 the best method of planting the tubers ; the soil lies loosely 

 both under and over the " sets," and forms an excellent medium 

 for a spreading subject like the Potato, which requires ample and 

 free room for development. A deeper trench is best excavated 

 in sticky, clayey soil, the bottom broken up or loosened, and 

 the opening partly filled with a compost consisting of any light 

 soil that may be obtainable, with soot, salt, ashes, sand, road- 

 scrapings, old spent manure, chopped turves, burnt rubbish, 

 and similar light and porous materials, the " sets " being covered 

 with similar compost. During subsequent growth, the inter- 

 vening soil may be forked over and the same class of materials 

 incorporated until it becomes of better consistency, suitable 

 for being drawn around the young shoots, which operation 

 should be a gradual and continuous one throughout the whole 

 period of growth. 



Superphosphates, sulphates of ammonia and potash, and 

 guano are good Potato artificial manures. Nitrate of soda 

 tends to produce a " waxy " Potato ; lime, if applied, should be 

 put on the ground some time before planting. 



To ensure a supply of new Potatoes throughout the whole 

 summer, keep back a number of seed-size tubers of the early 

 varieties. Store these with their eyes upwards, exposed to all 

 the light possible, in a cool place. When the earliest crops are 

 being dug, in June, and a few roots are lifted, replant the same 

 piece of ground from the tubers in store, repeating the process 

 until the middle of July. Jhe state of the ground at this season 

 favours a very rapid growth, and in a few days after planting 

 the shoots will appear above the ground. A week later give 

 a good dressing of soot or a little nitrate of soda, and earth up 

 immediately afterwards. Good-sized tubers from this second 

 planting may usually be dug early in September. 



Those who force a few early Potatoes will find Sharpe's Victor, 

 if old, still a very reliable variety. The dwarf haulm renders it 

 specially adapted for this purpose, and if it is not such a heavy 

 cropper as some of the newer kinds, its qualities are undeniable. 

 For early work in the open Sharpe's Victor is also valuable, for 

 if planted in a warm and sheltered border early in March it is 

 ready for use in May. 



POTATOES IN POTS. Early Potatoes may be had by the 

 possessor of a greenhouse or other structure from which frost is 

 excluded, the secret being to afford the plants unobstructed 



