344 



REVIEWS. 



Art. I. Transactions of the Horticultural Society of London. 

 Second Series. Vol. I. Part II. 4to. London, Hatchard. 



(^Continued from p. 89.) 



24. The Result of soine Experiinents on the Growth of Potatoes, 

 tried in the Garden of the Society in the Year 1831. By John 

 Lindley, Esq. F.R.S., Assistant Secretary. Read Nov. 15. 1831. 



For the details of the experiment we refer to the article 

 itself, consisting of nine quarto pages. The experiments 

 were instituted to test the results of Mr. Knight's experi- 

 ments on the cultivation of the potato, as described in the 

 Transactions, vol. vii, p. 405., and as noticed in this Magazine, 

 Vol. V. p. 294. and 718—722., and Mr. Lindley draws the 

 following conclusion, and pronounces it to be quite confirm- 

 atory of Mr. Knight's statements. " In order to acquire the. 

 greatest possible weight of potatoes per acre, it is necessary 

 that large round heavy tubers should be employed, and that 

 the space allowed for the growth of each plant should be as 

 nearly as possible such as it would naturally occupy, if suf- 

 fered to spread freely on all sides without interruption ; that 

 this space will vary according to the habits of particular 

 varieties, and can only be determined by accurate experi- 

 ments ; that too much and too little room are alike injurious 

 to productiveness ; and that, finally, it is quite practicable at 

 least to double the crops that are usually obtained. 



" It cannot be necessary for me," says Mr. Lindley, " after 

 this statement, to make any remarks upon the methods at 

 present in use, of planting sets or fragments, or the smallest 

 tubers, or even, as sometimes in Ireland, parings of the 

 potato ; the evil consequences of such practices cannot but be 

 apparent to every one." 



Our friend Mr. Barnet, of the Experimental Garden of 

 Edinburgh, in a letter dated December 26. 1832, obligingly 

 advises us on various subjects, and has the following remarks 

 on the above one. — Cond. 



" We have been trying the planting of whole potatoes in 

 wide rows ; and, in a trial of three kinds, the mode has 

 proved superior in one kind, the early frame, in rows 3 ft. 

 apart, as this kind has yielded ten bolls [a boll is about 



