590 Short Commwiications. 



The kinds of potato which, on being planted here, miss 

 gi'owing are imported from Scotland every spring ; as it 

 seems that the offspring from them, as grov/n here, dege- 

 nerate so much as to be incapable of producing a second 

 crop : they are called Scotch pink eye, and Scotch apple. In 

 the pink eye, and I dare say in the other kind also, the lower 

 part of the potato is too ripe; whence I would recommend that 

 at least two cuts be taken off from the lower end, or the end 

 next the stalk, of each potato, and applied to the feeding of pigs, 

 or otherwise appropriated, for they are quite unfit to occupy 

 ground with ; as every one of them rots, leaving vacancies in 

 every drill. Let the cutting of the seed be done out of hand, 

 as quick as possible, and the whole laid up in a close conical 

 heap against the wall of the house. They are cut in the air 

 here, which condition has an almost instantaneous bad effect 

 on them, for when they lie flat on the floor they in the course 

 of forty-eight hours get a blue colour, and become quite soft, 

 although by gathering them together they will get firm again, 

 and partly come to a white colour : their vegetative power is, 

 however, gone ; pitch them to the dunghill. Mr. Mallet has 

 about an acre of the Scotch pink eye planted here this spring, 

 from seed that I purchased on the quay of Dublin, out of a 

 ship direct from Campbelton ; and the crop (except a part 

 of the field that had been planted with about 2 cwt. of seed 

 that had lain flat on the floor not more than forty-eight hours 

 before I detected the mischief) is a good one, say with a 

 miss of not more than one quarter : a clear proof that the 

 Scotchman does not steep his potatoes in salt water to prevent 

 their growing. 



I think it may be possible that the potato fi-om Scotland 

 may not every year be too ripe ; but, to make sure work, the 

 bottom cuts and top ones should be kept separate. When 

 the pink eye is planted immediately after being cut, the cuts 

 rot in the ground, the same as those of it do which have been 

 spread out on the floor. When laid up in a heap, as above 

 recommended, in the course of a fortnight they will either 

 begin to sprout, or their bud will begin to swell ; and, when 

 they do this, you may plant them with safety : about a ton 

 may be laid in a heap, only so pack them that as few of them 

 as possible may be on the floor. It appears to me that the 

 Scotch pink eye would do better, and come sooner to market, 

 if not planted among the dung; for I see it loses time before 

 its roots get properly established in the earth. I, in conse- 

 quence, think that more benefit would accrue if the dung were 

 dug or ploughed into the ground when the potatoes are set- 

 ting off in growth. Then drill the same as for peas or beans 



