54 THE POTATO 



to germinate. Mature potatoes will not begin to grow 

 until they have had a period of rest. In some varie- 

 ties this may be but a few weeks, while others may 

 be held months before they show signs of growth. 

 In the island of Jersey and the early potato grow- 

 ing districts of the United Kingdom it is customary 

 to store the seed potatoes in flat trays (Fig. ii). 

 The advantages of these are: (i) the seed cannot heat; 

 (2) a large quantity can be stored in a room, the tra3'S 

 being tiered almost to the roof; (3) seed can be easily 

 examined at any time and conveniently moved, hence 

 diseases — as, wet-rot, dry-rot, etc. — are more easily con- 

 trolled; (4) the potatoes may be sprouted in the traj's; 

 (5) the potatoes can be moved to the field in and 

 planted from the trays. 



The tray is the best means of storing new varieties 

 which have been purchased or grown in small quan- 

 tities. 



Sprouting Potatoes. — L,avallee' and many others 

 have found that sprouting seed potatoes in a well- 

 lighted room increases the yield and earliness, and 

 produces a more vigorous growth of vines and a larger 

 starch content in the tubers. One explanation offered 

 for the increase in yield is that the short, thick stem 

 developed under the above conditions bears many 

 scales or leaves for its hight, and it is from the axils 

 of these scales, the place where the scale joins the 

 stem, that the tuber-bearing branches are produced 

 (Fig. 12). The more scales produced, the more op- 

 portunity for the development of tubers. If the tu- 

 bers start growth in the dark, either indoors or below 



' IC. S. R., XII., p. 1032. 



