48 VEGETABLE GARDENING. 



Main-crop varieties, 28 inches between the rows, 

 and 14 inches between the sets. 



A good average depth at which to plant the tubers 

 is 5 inches, 4 inches being deep enough in stiff clay 

 soil. 



How to Plant. The ground having been dug 

 and manured some time in advance, the first thing 

 to do in commencing to plant potatoes is to level 

 the surface with a rake. The line should then be 

 placed in position for the first row, and an open drill 

 4 to 5 inches deep taken out with the draw-hoe, or 

 a spade may be used if preferred. A number of 

 drills may thus be made ; the potatoes being after- 

 wards planted in the drills at the proper distances 

 apart, and covered in with the rake, leaving the 

 ground level but not too fine on the surface. 



Another good plan is to set the line, and, by means 

 of a spade held with its back to the line, make holes 

 4 to 5 inches deep and at the required distances 

 in the rows. The tubers are then planted in the 

 holes and afterwards covered in, as in the first method. 

 A variation of the second mode of planting is that 

 in making the holes in one row the soil taken out is 

 thrown into the holes in the previous row containing 

 potato sets. In this way holes are formed in one 

 row, and the tubers planted in the preceding one are 

 covered in, all in one operation. It only remains to 

 rake the soil level in finishing the work. 



Either the open drill, or holes made with the spade, 

 is a better and more expeditious method than dibbling 

 in the tubers, as is often done, but which has many 

 serious disadvantages and cannot be approved of. 



The tubers should not be planted in an upright 



