36 THE POTATO CHOP. 



When this finishing part of the work of preparation has 

 been satisfactorily accomplished, the seed is the next point 

 for the farmer's consideration. Now, although the potato 

 may be generated either from its seed or from its tubers, 

 the latter are always resorted to for the purpose, as experi- 

 ence has shown us that when the seed has been used the 

 tubers produced are so small as to be well-nigh valueless 

 as articles of food, while, at the same time, they are very 

 liable to " sport," and to exhibit great variations from the 

 original stock. If the seeds be made use of for raising a 

 stock, the largest and best-formed " apples/' as they are 

 termed, should be selected when fully matured; this is 

 easily seen by their darker colour and by the decay of the 

 stem. These should then be carefully kept until they 

 become perfectly dry, when the seed is readily separated 

 from the pulp by rubbing in the hand, and a few hours' 

 exposure in the air is sufficient to render them quite dry. 

 In the month of March they may be planted in a shel- 

 tered situation, and should be carefully attended to until 

 the time of harvest, when a number of small tubers, from 

 the size of a bean to that of a walnut, may generally be 

 collected. These, the following year, may be planted at 

 the usual time, and at the time of harvesting will be found 

 to have increased the size of the tuber-produce from the 

 walnut to that of an ordinary egg; while the produce of 

 the next and the following years will show that the tubers 

 have attained their full development. It is a curious fact 

 that, whatever the original seed sown may be, the pro- 

 duce is sure to be very irregular, some of the tubers being 

 white, some yellow, and some red, and of all varieties of 

 shapes. This irregularity, however, is so far useful, as it 

 affords the grower an opportunity of meeting with several 

 new varieties, from which he may, by a careful observa- 

 tion of their habits of growing and ripening, select some 

 which he may think likely to form desirable varieties to 



