KITCHEN GARDENING. Ill 



have been contrived with a view to find out the best method 

 of preparing the seed. In many parts of England (where Pota- 

 toes equal to any in the world are raised), the farmers seldom 

 plant them whole ; they take the Potatoes as they come to 

 hand, and in cutting them, take care to have two good eyes in 

 each set ; the small Potatoes are deprived of the sprout or nose- 

 end, as it is generally considered that a redundancy of eyes 

 exhausts the set, and produces weak plants, which are not cal- 

 culated to yield a full crop. I have frequently known trom five 

 to six hundred bushels raised from an acre with small Potatoes 

 alone cut in this way. Some prefer planting the sets immedi- 

 ately after they are cut. The better way is to get them cut a 

 week before the time of planting, and to lay them out on a 

 barn or garret-floor to dry. 



It will require from twelve to sixteen bushels of Potatoes to 

 plant an acre of ground, according to the size and nature of the 

 seed-roots, the manner of preparing, and mode of planting the 

 same. 



Potatoes may be planted from the first week in April until 

 July, either in hills or drills ; the best way for a gardener is to 

 plant them in drills four or five inches deep, and about thirty 

 inches asunder. The sets may be dropped six or eight inches 

 apart ; and if a small quantity of comb-maker's horn shavings, 

 bone-dust, or sea-weed, be used as a manure for the early 

 kinds, it will expedite their growth. The ground should be 

 hoed as soon as the plants come up, and a few times after this. 

 Level cultivation is better than hilling. 



" now TO RAISE LARGE CROPS OP POTATOES. 



" It is desirable, not only to get the best varieties for seed, 

 but to know how to plant them and to raise the largest and 

 best crop. 



" The method I pursue, and which pays better, far better^ 

 than any of the old systems generally practised, is as follows : 



