82 CONTINUOUS CROPPING 



A certain amount of fresh seed should be obtamed 

 every season, with the sole object of growing seed for 

 the following year. These potatoes should be dug 

 before the tops have withered and the tubers left 

 exposed to the air as soon as they are dug. 



This exposure results in the potatoes turning green, 

 and as every potato planter has known for years — 

 and scientific investigators are just beginning to find 

 out — ^green seed is always more virile and more pro- 

 ductive than seed completely ripened. This green seed 

 can be stored in a loft or in potato boxes. 



As regards boxes, the kind recommended by the 

 Irish Board of Agriculture is very suitable. There is, 

 of course, no need to procure boxes to hold all the seed 

 potatoes. A certain number can be sprouted in boxes, 

 and the balance sprouted on the floor or on shelves ; 

 the boxes being used to convey the seed to the field. 

 The main object of sprouting is to preserve the 

 strongest shoot in the potato, which of necessity is the 

 first one, as it will give by far the most vigorous foliage 

 and much better-developed tubers than those resulting 

 from the growth of the secondary shoots. 



With the ordinary method of storing potatoes, after 

 the turn of the year the tubers will sprout in the pit. 

 Then when the potatoes come to be turned in the early 

 spring the dehcate white shoots are injured or knocked 

 off completely. 



Another thing to remember is that heat, darkness, 

 and absence of air favour the rapid growth of sprouts, 

 whilst cold, light, and air retard growth. In other 

 words, if the potatoes are stored in a warm, dark place 

 the shoots grow quickly and spindly, whereas if light 

 and air are admitted, the tubers being kept in a 

 moderate temperature, the shoots are short and 

 sturdy. 



