, LATE POTATO. 199 



have been named, as they have little profusion of 

 leaves, may be planted before a south wall, without 

 injury to the trees, and will thus come very early 

 to maturity. An ingenious friend has assured me, 

 on his own experiment, that if early potatoes, de- 

 signed for seed, be taken up not sufficiently ripened, 

 and left exposed on the surface for some weeks 

 bleaching in the weather (to use an Irishism) till 

 they become green, will produce a much earlier crop 

 next year. The middle of March, at a medium 

 elevation, is soon enough for planting when the safe 

 conduct of the crop is to be entrusted to the ele- 

 ments; and even then it is better to put the dung- 

 above the sets; for so placed, as it excludes the 

 frost, it admits of a shallower covering of earth, 

 and thus favours the fruitfulness of the potato. 

 The drills may be two feet separate for the ash- 

 leaved, and a little more for those sorts which grow 

 more luxuriantly. 



. Of late potatoes, one of the best varieties now 

 in use is that called the don; it is dark, with white 

 spots, high flavoured, solid, nutritious, and keeps 

 long. Though not so numerous at the stalk, it 

 yields as much weight per acre as any other sort 

 as it produces very few that are not full sized. It 

 is convenient however to plant some of the white 

 varieties, which are better for eating in the early 

 part of the season. The drills for late crops should 

 be thirty inches asunder, and the sets nine or ten. 

 In the garden, the most careful gathering is im- 

 portant on account of the succeeding crop. See 

 Jerusalem Artichoke. 



