CULTIVATION MODE OF IIAEVESTING, &c. 45 



therefore not exceed Is. 6d. per acre, which would be re- 

 paid by a very small increase in the crop. As the flowers 

 fade away they are succeeded by round, fleshy seed-pods, 

 usually termed potato apples, the growth of which may 

 be taken as good indications of the growth of the tubers 

 beneath the surface. Until these make their appearance, 

 there are no tubers fit for use in the ground. 



When these are fully developed, the tubers are suffi- 

 ciently large and ripe for table consumption ; for storing 

 arid keeping purposes, however, they require to be per- 

 fectly matured, and must remain some time longer in the 

 ground. The indications of full maturity are afforded by 

 the condition of the stem and leaves, which begin to change 

 their colour, and then to wither, and if left, to decay. 

 When these signs are given, the sooner the crop is removed 

 from the ground the better. The operation of " lifting" them 

 is carried out in several different ways in different districts. 

 Probably the most common is that with the heavy and 

 cumbrous potato -fork (for which the new light steel fork 

 is an excellent substitute). This mode of lifting them, when 

 properly carried out, is very efficient, especially on soils or 

 in seasons where the plough could not be advantageously 

 used; it, however, involves a great cost for labour, and 

 the work is proportionately slow ; and we well know that 

 time in all our harvest operations is an important element 

 for consideration. In the potato-growing districts, where 

 an advanced system of farming is generally to be seen, the 

 plough is made use of for this purpose, the well-directed 

 labour of a pair of horses being a far more expeditious, 

 and, at the same time, economical source of power, than 

 that of the labourer with his clumsy fork. Where the 

 cultivation is small, the ordinary plough is frequently 

 made use of, the coulter and share are removed, the sock 

 lifting the tubers from their bed, and the mouldboard turn- 

 ing them out upon the surface. If the common plough 



