594 PRACTICE OF GARDENING. PART HI. 



3383. Nicol says, " Plant some of the early sorts of potatoes thickly, on slight hot-beds, in February, to 

 be covered with a frame and lights; or to be hooped over, and be covered with mats or canvass at 

 night, and in bad weather, which is a very good method of obtaining early potatoes, as they are not so 

 much drawn, as if kept close under glass. A moderate dung-heat is sufficient for the purpose ; and the 

 plants, after they have come up, should be exposed from morning till night in good weather, but should- 

 be carefully covered at night for fear of frost. Even in using frames and lights, they should be fully ex- 

 posed in good weather, and should not be kept so closely shut up as is commonly done ; by which they are 

 drawn entirely to tops, and do little good at root. In either case they should have moderate and regular 

 supplies of water." 



3384. Hogg, a market-gardener, describes " a method of growing early forced potatoes," by using an 

 old cucumber or melon bed, in which the dung has long lost all its heat. The sets of a very early sort, a 

 variety of Foxe's yellow seedling, known by the name of this grower, are cut a fortnight before they are 

 planted, to prevent their damping, or being injured by worms. The bed is prepared by removing all the 

 earth from the top of the dung, and covering it about' one inch deep with fresh mould, on which the seta 

 are planted, in rows six inches apart, and the same distance from each other in the rows ; they are then 

 covered four inches deep with mould, and the frames and glasses are placed upon the bed, which must be 

 carefully protected from frost. The covering best adapted for this purpose, is the second crop of short hay, 

 called rowen, in the neighborhood of London. At the end of the fifth day, the outsides of the old 

 dung should be cut away, from near the edge of the frame to the bottom of the bed, in a slanting direction 

 inwards, of about fifteen inches from the perpendicular ; strong linings of hot dung must be applied to the 

 space so made, and renewed, if necessary, at the end of three weeks. Air must be given to the plants, 

 by sliding down the lights at noon every day that the weather will permit, and water in the mornings, 

 leaving about one inch of the light open for the admission of air after watering. The potatoes will be fit 

 for use in about seven weeks from the first planting of the sets, and the average crop to each light, if well 

 managed, is usually about five pounds." (Hort. Tr. vol. ii. p. 144.) 



3385. Knight's mode of forcing potatoes in hot-beds is as follows : " The varieties of potatoes, which 

 are well calculated for early forcing, begin to vegetate before Christmas ; and it is of consequence to pre- 

 serve the germs and roots first emitted from injury, where a crop of good potatoes is required before the 

 end of May. I therefore plant my potatoes in pots of about six inches diameter in January (a single 

 potatoe in each), and the pots are then placed in the ground, and covered with litter, to protect them 

 from frost ; and in this situation they remain till the hot-bed is ready to receive them. In the mean time, 

 the roots extend themselves through the mould within the pots, and the germs reach its surface ; whilst 

 the excitability of the plants is not all expended on account of the low temperature in which they vegetate : 

 and, therefore, when plunged into the hot-bed, they instantly shoot with excessive rapidity, and in a few 

 days begin to generate tubers. One stem alone should be suffered to grow in each pot ; for where more 

 remain, the tubers are smaller, and the crop is not increased in weight. When the plants grow in small 

 pots, the gardener will have apparently the advantage of being able to take out the largest potatoes by 

 inverting the pots, without materially injuring the fibrous roots ; but this practice will rarely be found 

 eligible, because the plants, having the range of their roots confined to the limits of the pot, soon 

 occupy the whole of their pasture, and therefore do not produce their tubers in succession as they will 

 under common circumstances. The lights should be drawn off during the day, when the spring is far 

 enough advanced to permit this to be done without injury to the plants ; and early in May the pots may 

 be taken out of the hot-bed, which may be employed for other purposes ; and as it must necessarily have 

 been kept very dry during the latter period of the growth of the potatoes, it will generally afford a strong 

 heat on being well watered. I confine my plants (which are naturally of a very dwarfish growth) to 

 small pots, because under this mode of culture the tubers acquire maturity sooner, and are better ; but 

 the crop is not so heavy as when their fibrous roots are permitted to extend more widely ; and therefore, 

 where a larger, but rather later crop, is required, the best plan is to put the tubers to vegetate in small 

 pots, and from these to remove them, with their roots and germs uninjured, to the hot-bed. I tried the 

 effect of placing a few tubers (half a dozen only) on the floor of my cellar, disposing them just in contact 

 with each other ; and as soon as the germs were about four inches long, a hot-bed was made ready to re- 

 ceive them. This experiment succeeded perfectly; and as it is not attended with so much expense and 

 trouble as either of the preceding methods, it will be found, in many cases, the most eligible. All that 

 appears necessary to obtain an early crop, is to advance the growth of the plant, as much as convenient, 

 under low temperature, so as to avoid all unnecessary expenditure of its excitability ; and subsequently, 

 to preserve its germs and roots as much as possible uninjured in transplantation." 



3386. Forcing potatoes in pots or boxes. This is sometimes attempted in stoves. One 

 set is placed near the bottom of a large pot, and gradually earthed up. When nearly 

 full grown, it is taken to the cherry or peach house for the sake of more air. Another 

 mode of planting in pans or boxes is thus described by Abercrombie: " Plant potatoes 

 of the growth of the season before the last; that is, the produce of 1816 to be planted in 

 December 1817, or January 1818. Potatoes so kept will appear surrounded by a brood of 

 new potatoes in contact with the seed or parent potatoe. The leaf-buds are removed, 

 and the potatoes planted in a circle and in layers, in earthen pans or wooden boxes, with 

 alternations of fine loose earth. Such pans or boxes may be put into sheds, or on shelves 

 in the kitchen, &c. By this treatment, no leaves will emerge above the soil, and young- 

 potatoes may be reared at any required period. " A similar mode is described by 

 A. Sherbrook, Esq. (Hort. Tr. vol. i. 225.) The boxes, containing alternate layers of 

 light earth and potatoes of the preceding year, are placed in a dry covered place, free 

 from frost ; they receive no water, and produce " good, fine, young potatoes in Decem- 

 ber. " For a succession, the process is to be repeated 



3387. Incidental forcing of potatoes. " Small, young, spring potatoes are likewise ob- 

 tained from some of the winter store of old potatoes, as they lie in the house ; especially 

 where these have been mixed with sand, and permitted to shoot as they lie, when they 

 produce a few small button potatoes in spring ; some of which are occasionally brought 

 to market, but are only proper for immediate use." 



S388. Ashworth adopts thefollo wing method : " In the beginning of April, a quantity of large potatoes are 

 selected, and laid up in a dry, airy room; they are tunied over four or five times during the summer, 

 and all shoots which they make, are taken off as they appear. Thesp are used for the seed, and are planted 

 in succession from the beginning of September to the end of December, in boxes, in the following man- 

 ner. In the bottom of each box, a layer of light vegetable mould, four inches deep, is placet!, on which 

 tiie potatoes are laid, two inches apart, and these are covered with another layer of the same mould, and 

 of the same depth. 6 the surface of this second layer, potatoes are again laid, and then covered P.; 

 before; this it repeated until the box is full. The boxes may be kept in any of the tire-houses, or in a 



