tCCt.ir. THE COUNTY OF FIFE. J 83 



ed, is almost totally given up, and they are now 

 planted everywhere in drills. Those who take 

 land from the farmers for raising potatoes, anxi- 

 ous to have as large a crop as possible, seldom 

 make the drills above 1 8 or 20 inches asunder, 

 from an apprehension that wider drills will les- 

 sen the quantity of the produce. This, how- 

 ever, is found to be a mistaken notion ; and 

 therefore farmers and others, who do not labour 

 Under that prejudice, generally make the rows 

 three feet, or at least 2 feet distant, and the 

 plants from 8 to 10 inches asunder in the row. 

 By this method, whilst an equally large crop is 

 produced, an opportunity is afforded for repeated 

 horse-hoeings, which, in cleaning foul land, is 

 certainly more effectual than all the dressing 

 which can be given merely with the hand-hoe. 



In some cases, after the land has been pre- 

 pared by repeated ploughings, it is laid into 

 ridges of 3 feet broad, and the dung spread a- 

 long the furrows. The potatoe sets are then 

 dropped on the dung at the proper distance. To 

 lay the sets in the furrow before the dung is 

 spread, is a good method, and sometimes prac- 

 tised. The seed being thus put in, it is cover- 

 ed either by ploughing the whole intermediate 

 ridges at once, or by a single furro v from each 

 side, leaving the rest untouched till about ten 

 days or a fortnight after. 



Sometimes, before planting, the ground is 

 harrowed, and the dung spread over the whole 

 surface as evenly as possible. On each side of 

 the ridge, beginning at one side of the field, a 

 furrow is opened, and the sets dropped along 

 them : they are then covered with the plough ; 



