Culture of the Potato. 425 



he had been a considerable distance about the county, and found 

 those of many persons much worse than his own ; that many 

 acres were ploughed up as a complete failure ; and that in many 

 situations he had observed the missed places planting with fresh 

 seed. My own opinion is, that planting and filling up with seed 

 more exhausted than the first is of but little use ; for this 

 reason, if any of them should grow they will be much later than 

 the others, and spoil the sample, particularly if they should be 

 for sale. I should recommend calculating on the crop ; then, at 

 certain distances, taking up with a spade the plants of so many 

 rows, and planting them in the vacancies, right and left, as they 

 are taken up. The cleared ground could then be planted with 

 other potatoes, or sown with turnips, to be pulled off early. No 

 vegetable that I am acquainted with transplants better than the 

 potato, if properly done ; it is the means of checking the over- 

 luxuriance of the stalk, and increasing the size of the tubers. 



I asked the above-mentioned farmer what was the principal 

 failure or disease so prevalent amongst the potato crops, and the 

 cause of it. The latter he could not account for otherwise than 

 that it was his opinion, and that of most others he had con- 

 versed with, that it was tlu'ough the wet unkind season ; 

 although, to their surprise, the dry rot was very prevalent, as 

 well as sloping, or wet rot. Besides, he says, there is another 

 failure very prevalent this season, that much of the seed pro- 

 duces undergrovmd tubers without shooting up, or producing 

 any stems. " What could be the cause of that," says the farmer; 

 "if not the wet cold season ?" — " Exhaustion of the seed before 

 planting," I answered, " is the cause of each disease you com- 

 plain of." — " How can that be," asked the farmer, "when last 

 autumn was one of the finest I ever remember for ripening the 

 potato crop ; so that many persons' potatoes were ripened and 

 taken up several weeks sooner than usual ? Besides, we had a 

 very mild favourable winter ; no frosts to injure them in any 

 way." — " The more likely to get exhausted," I replied, "by 

 heating and growing." — "Very likely, very likely," replies the 

 farmer, " I am sure ; though I never once gave that a thought, 

 although we have suffered from dry rot and sloping for years, 

 hereabouts. On second thoughts," he says, " that cannot be 

 the cause of all three of these diseases : dry rot, sloping, and 

 tubering under ground without sending up stems." — " I am per- 

 fectly satisfied it is," I replied. " The dry rot affects those most 

 from the middle of the heap, that have been the hottest. Those 

 have gone sleepy, dead, and clruxy [? drowsy], like an over-ripe 

 apple, looking fair to the eye although perished ; and they are 

 to be found amongst old potatoes, for several months in spring 

 and early summer, on many people's tables, spotted, black, and 

 flavourless, amongst others tolerably good. The sloping, or 



