30 ESCULENT ROOTS. 



In a few weeks, the eyes will have started sufficiently for 

 planting out. Divide the tubers into sets, as before direct- 

 ed, being careful not to break or injure the young shoots ; 

 set them in hills or drills, and cover three inches deep. A 

 light application of horse-manure at the bottom of the hills 

 or drills will afford the warmth which may be needed early 

 in the season, and afterwards give support and vigor to the 

 growing crop. 



Taking the Crop, and Method of Preservation. The sea- 

 son of maturity of the earlier sorts will be indicated by the 

 decay of the plants. The later sorts will continue their 

 growth until checked by frost ; previous to which time, they 

 will not be ready for harvesting. 



In summer weather, when it is practicable, the table 

 should be supplied from day to day directly from the field 

 or garden, as the tubers rapidly deteriorate after being taken 

 from the ground, particularly if exposed to a warm, light 

 atmosphere, or kept in a warm and dry cellar. 



In the preservation of potatoes, it is of the first im- 

 portance that they be excluded from light. If this is neg- 

 lected, they become not only injurious, but actually poison- 

 ous ; and this is especially the fact when they are allowed 

 to become of a green color, which they readily will do on 

 exposure to the light. In a state of complete darkness, they 

 should, therefore, be placed the day they are taken out of 

 the ground ; and it were even better that they were stored 

 in rather a damp state, than that they should be exposed for 

 a day to the light with a view to dry them. 



Varieties. Messrs. Peter Lawson & Sons describe one 

 hundred and seventy-five, and other foreign authors enumer- 

 ate upwards of five hundred varieties, describing the habit 

 of the plant ; size, form, and color of the tubers ; quality 

 and general excellence ; and comparative value for cultiva- 

 tion. 



Few of these foreign sorts have ever been cultivated to 

 any extent in this country, and a large proportion are 



