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Field Culture of the Potato. 



Art. XXIII. On the Field Culture of the Potato in Argyle- 

 shire. By W. M. 



The potato husbandry of this district has been very suc- 

 cessful for a long time ; and as there is something in our prac- 

 tice not usually followed in other districts, I send you a short 

 notice of it. The manure is sometimes applied to the field 

 during winter and ploughed in, or it is by the better econo- 

 mists reserved till the field is drilled for planting. When the 

 first plan is adopted it gets another ploughing across the field, 

 and is then planted, the plough going one bout along the fur- 

 row of which the set is placed, 

 and then covered by the re- 

 turn of the plough. 



The mode I prefer is pre- 

 paring the field in the same 

 way as for turnips, and plac- 

 ing the dung in the drill, and 

 the set on it (Jig. 85. a.) and 

 then covering them up by 

 cleaving down the ridgelet, 

 ■ and forming others (b) : a fort- 

 s night or so afterwards, the 

 whole field is harrowed across 

 (c). As soon as the plants 

 have so far sprouted as that 

 the drill can safely be traced 

 from end to end(d), then the whole field is drilled again as at 

 first with a very strong furrow (e), and then the harrows are set 

 immediately to work after the plough has finished drilling, and 

 the field is levelled again (f). Any one that is unacquainted 

 with the system would suppose the crop ruined, but it is far 

 otherwise. The after-culture is no way different from the com- 

 mon practice of paring away the earth, drill harrowing, and 

 earthing up, as in other countries. I can, from practice, advise 

 only paring or earthing, as the case may be, one side of the 

 drill at each turn, as you get your operations more quickly 

 done at the time, and are more frequently stirring the earth, 

 and at the same expense. The charm, if I may use the term, 

 of the system is, the additional drilling up and harrowing 

 down; by this harrowing all the larger clods are thrown to 

 the furrow, where they are fully pulverised by the drill harrow 

 and after-culture, and all the weeds are so effectually drawn 

 from between the plants that there is no use of hand-hoeing. 

 The expense may be calculated at less than a third of hand- 



