626 PRACTICE OF GARDENING. PART III. 



in the ground, I raised the mould in a heap round the bases of them, and in contact with the stakes : on 

 their south sides I planted the potatoes from which I wished to obtain seeds. When the young plants were 

 about four inches high, they were secured to the stakes with shreds and nails, and the mould was then 

 washed away, by a strong current of water, from the bases of their stems, so that the fibrous roots only of 

 the plants entered into the soil. The fibrous roots of this plant are perfectly distinct organs from the run- 

 ners, which give existence, and subsequently convey nutriment to the tuberous roots ; and as the runners 

 spring from the stems only of the plants, which are, in the mode of culture I have described, placed 

 wholly out of the soil, the formation of tuberous roots is easily prevented; and whenever this is done, 

 numerous blossoms will soon appear, and almost every blossom will afford fruit and seeds." Knight, con- 

 sidering that the above facts, which are more fully explained in the Philosophical Transactions for 1806, 

 were sufficient to prove, that the same fluid or sap gives existence alike to the tuber, and the blossom, and 

 seeds, and that, whenever a plant of the potatoe affords either seeds or blossoms, a diminution of the crop 

 of tubers, or an increased expenditure of the riches of the soil, must necessarily take place, succeeded in 

 producing varieties of sufficiently luxuriant growth, and large produce for general culture which never 

 produced blossoms. (Hort. Trans, vol. i. 188.) 



3668. By cuttings, or the layers of the stalks, or suckers. Make cuttings of the young stalks or branches, 

 of five or six inches in length, in May or June; attending to the general directions for forming cuttings. 

 Choose, if possible, showery weather; or strike them under a hand-glass, or in a half empty pot covered 

 with a pane of glass, as in striking cucumber-cuttings. 



3669. Layers. In June or July, when the potatoe-stalks are advanced one or two feet long, choose such 

 plants as stand somewhat detached, and lay down the shoots on the ground with or without cutting, in the 

 common mode of layering. Coyer them with earth about three inches, leaving the points of the shoots 

 exposed. These shoots will emit roots at every leaf, and produce full-grown potatoes the same year, attain- 

 ing perfection in autumn. 



3670. Suckers. Remove in June, off-set sucker shoots, with a few roots to each ; plant them carefully, 

 and they will produce a late crop like the layers. 



3671. By sprouts or shoots from the tubers. In default of genuine early sorts ; or, to save the tubers for 

 use in seasons of scarcity, the sprouts which are generally found on store-potatoes in spring, and picked off 

 and thrown away as useless, will, when carefully planted in loose well prepared soil, yield a crop ; and this 

 crop will be fit for use a little sooner than one produced from cuttings or sections of the same tubers, in 

 which the buds are not advanced. Almost every thing, however, depends on the fine tilth, and good state 

 of the ground. 



3672. By portions of the tubers. This is the only method fit for general purposes. In making the sets or 

 sections, reject the extreme or watery end of the tuber, as apt to run too much to haulm, and having the 

 eyes small, and in a cluster ; reject also the root or dry end, as more likely to be tardy in growth, and pro- 

 duce the curl. Then divide the middle of the potatoe, so as to have not more than one good eye in each 

 set Where the potatoe scoop is used, take care to apply it so as the eye or bud may be in the centre of 

 each set, which this instrument produces, of a semi-globular form. The larger the portion of tuber left to 

 each eye, so much the greater will be the progress of the young plant. The scoop is only to be used in 

 seasons of scarcity, when the portion of tuber saved by it may be used for soups for the poor, or for feeding 

 cattle. The best scoop is that described and figured in Supp. Encyc. Brit. art. Agr. 



3673. Size of the sets. Knight has found that for a late crop small sets may be used, because the plants of 

 late varieties always acquire a considerable age before they begin to generate tubers ; but for an early crop 

 he recommends the largest tubers, and he has found that these not only uniformly afford very strong plants, 

 but also such as readily recover when injured by frost : for being fed by a copious reservoir beneath the 

 soil, a reproduction of vigorous stems and foliage soon takes place, when those first produced are destroyed 

 by frost, or other cause. He adds, " when the planter is anxious to obtain a crop within the least possible 

 time, he will find the position in which the tubers are placed to vegetate by no means a point of indiffer- 

 ence ; for these being shoots or branches, which have grown thick instead of elongating, retain the dis- 

 position of branches to propel their sap to their leading buds, or points most distant from the stems of the 

 plants, of which they once formed parts. If the tubers be placed with their leading buds upwards, a few 

 very strong and very early shoots will spring from them ; but if their position be reversed, many weaker 

 and later shoots will be produced ; and not only the earliness, but the quality of the produce, in size, will be 

 much affected." (Hort. Trans, iv. 448.) 



3674. Quantity of sets. In respect to proportioning the quantity of sets to the space to be planted, 

 Abercrombie directs, " For a plot of the early and secondary crops, eight feet wide by sixteen in length ; 

 planted in rows fifteen inches asunder by nine inches in the row, a quarter of a peck of roots or cuttings. 

 For full-timed sorts and main crops, a compartment, twelve feet wide by thirty-two in length, planted in 

 rows two feet distant by twelve inches in the row, half a peck of roots or cuttings will be required." 



3675. Soil and manure. The best soil for the potatoe is a light, fresh, unmixed loam, 

 where they can be grown without manure. Here they have always the best flavor. In 

 a wet soil, they grow sickly, and produce watery tubers, infected with worms and other 

 vermin. To a poor soil, dung must be applied ; littery dung will produce the earliest 

 and largest crop ; but mellow dung, rotten leaves, or vegetable earth, will least affect the 

 flavor of the tubers. 



3676. Season for planting. " The last fortnight of March, and first fortnight of April, is the most 

 proper time for planting the main crops ; a little earlier or later, as the spring may be forward or late, the 

 ground dry or wet. Occasional plantings may be made in May, or even the beginning of June." (Aber- 

 crombie.) 



3677. Methods of planting. The sets of whatever kind, or the plants forwarded in pots, to be turned out 

 with their balls entire for producing an early crop in the open air, should always be inserted in regular 

 rows ; the object of which is to admit with greater facility the stirring the earth between, and the earthing 

 up of the plants. The rows may be fifteen inches apart for the small early sorts ; and for the larger, twenty 

 inches or two feet, according to the poorness or richness of the soil. In the lines traced, make holes for 

 the sets at eight, twelve, or fifteen inches' distance, letting their depth not be less than three, nor exceed 

 five inches. 



3678. Planting on a level surface will answer on a light soil. In small gardens, the planting may be per- 

 formed by a common large dibble with a blunt end. For planting considerable crops, a strong larger dibble, 

 about a yard long, is used, with a cross handle at top for both hands, the lower end being generally shod 

 with iron, and having a short cross iron shoulder about four or five inches from the bottom, as a guide to 

 make the holes of an equal depth ; one person striking the holes, and a boy directly dropping a set into each 

 hole. Strike the earth in upon them fully with a dibble, hoe, or rake, either as each row is planted, or when 

 the whole planting is finished. Sometimes the process is to ooen a small hole with the spade, and to drop 

 in a set, which set is covered in by the opening of the next hole. 



3679. On strong heavy land, the planting ought to be on raised beds with alleys, or in drills on the crown 

 of parallel ridges. The beds may either be raised by previous digging, throwing on good earth till the 

 terrace rise to the desired height, or in the different method described below. To plant in drills, trace 

 them at the medium distance above specified : form them to the proper depth with a narrow spade or large 

 hoe : in these place the sets a foot or fifteen inches apart, and earth over. To avoid the inconveniences of 



