206 ON POTATOES. 



Calculation of J am not acquainted with the common amount of the 

 the proportion • i ^ r , /. ^ , 



of food ob- weight ot a good crop ot potatoes, upon an acre o\ ground 



taitied from itj a favourable soil, when well manured and cultivated ; but 

 utoes ^ ^™ coDfldent, that it may getierally be made to exceed 



'.10 tons, by a proper selection of varieties : and if four 

 pounds of good potatoes afford, as is generally supposed, 

 at least as much nutriment as one pound of wheat, the pro* 

 duce of an acre of potatoes, such as I have described, is 

 capable of supporting as large a population as eight acres 

 wheat, of wheat; admitting the calculation of Mr. Arthur Young, 



that the average produce of an acre of wheat is 22f bushels * : 

 and as an acre of wheat will certainly support a& large a 

 afli pasture, number of people as hve acres of permanent pasture, it fol- 

 lows that an acre of potatoes affords as much food for man- 

 kind as forty acres of permanent pasture : an important 

 subject for consideration, in a country where provisions are 

 scarce and dear, and where so high bounties on pasture are 

 paid in the form of taxes on tillage, that the extent of per- 

 manent pasture is certainly and consequently increasing; 

 and it must increase, under e-xisting circumstances; for it. 

 pays a higher rent to the landlord, and relieves the farmer 

 from much labour, anxiety, and vexation. 

 Prevention of To what extent a crop of potatoes will generally be in- 

 blossom would j,pg^gg^ jjy the total prevention of all disposition to blossom, 



pay the rent of ..,•,■ • ,, , i 



the ground, the soil and variety ben^g, in all other respects, the same, 

 it is difficult to conjecture; but 1 imagine, that the expen- 

 diture of sap in the production of fruit stalks and blossoms 

 alone would be sufficient to occasion an addition, of at least 

 an ounce, to the weight of the tubeis of each plant; and 

 if each square yard were to contain eight plants, as in the 

 crop I have mentioned, the incn ased produce of an acre 

 would considerably exceed a tun, and of course be suffici- 

 ent, in almost all cases, to pay the rent of the ground. 



Varieties suit- I do not know how far other parts of England are well 



ed to Ireland g ppjjej y,]^)^ ^jj^od varieties of potatoes; bat those culti- 

 not so to tng- rr » ■ r 



ian(i. vated in this part of the island are generally very bad. Many 



of them have been introduced from Ireland, and to that 



climate they are probably well adapted; for the Irish planter 



is secure from frost from the end of April nearly to the end 



• 1440 lbs. 



of 



