278 



HISTORY OF THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 



producing excellence in the quality of these 

 tuberous roots. 



When cultivated in tenacious argillaceous 

 soils, if the summer be dry, the swelling of the 

 tubers is prevented by the mechanical pressure of 

 the earth ; and on the other hand, such soils, if 

 constantly in a state of moisture, produce imma- 

 ture tubers, which are sodden, waxy, and other- 

 wise of bad quality. But in ground which to all 

 appearance is little else than loose sand, if there 

 be humidity enough, potatoes will grow and be 

 of excellent quality, and, even should there be 

 any failure in the sufficiency of moisture, the 

 quality of roots yielded by the first planting 

 will be good, but they will be small, and too 

 hard for propagating. In the mountain districts 

 of Scotland the frequent rains in all seasons are 

 of so constant recurrence, that a whole week of 

 dry weather is considered worthy of record. 

 This circumstance, so unfavourable to the ma- 

 turity of other crops, operating in union with 

 the peculiar nature of the soil, causes the situa- 

 tion to be well adapted to this cultivation : while 

 there are still other advantages on the west coast 

 of the Scottish Highlands, and which apply in a 

 great measure to Ireland. In the first place there 

 is very little fi-ost — never any except in high and 

 comparatively inland places — until the potatoes 

 are come to their proper growth. Again, spade 

 husbandry is best adapted for potatoes, and it is 

 also the best for those places where the acclivi- 

 ties are generally too abrupt, and the spots of 

 land really worth culture too small to admit of 

 the use of the plough with any advantage. Per- 

 sons who are accquainted witli only flat coun- 

 tries, where there is little inequality of soil in a 

 field, and no absolute sterility in a parish, but 

 that which is consequent on neglect, can fomi 

 but an imperfect idea of the variations witnessed 

 in a little portion of mountain land. In a sec- 

 tion of thirty yards there may be ten yards of 

 useless gravel in which moisture can find no 

 resting-place till it be fathoms deep in the ground, 

 ten where there is not above three inches of soil 

 on the bare rock, and ten of soil of the very best 

 quality. The first and second portions would 

 not of course produce a crop of any description, 

 and yet in the use of the plough it would be 

 necessary to pass over them, or to lose about the 

 same time in turning; so that the expence of 

 ploughing such a piece of land would be triple 

 that of ploughing the same extent of a cham- 

 paign country. On the other hand, when the 

 spade is employed, the culture of the fertile spots 

 is not more expensive than if they were continu- 

 ous, and situated on the flattest surface in the 

 island ; while the nature of the soil renders the 

 labour of turning it and taking up the crop com- 

 paratively easy. 



Thus the potato has this great and peculiar 

 advantage over all other substantial esculent 



vegetables, that it can be not only cultivated in 

 places where no others can be profitably grown, 

 but that it can be cultivated there at small ex- 

 pense ; while it is less subject to disease, and 

 more secure against degenerating in those situa- 

 tions than on richer lands. Consequently, in a 

 soil so diversified as that of Britain, and where 

 the communication between any two places is so 

 easy, an almost unlimited supply of potatoes 

 may be grown without any diminution of the 

 breadth of profitable crop of the cerealia, the 

 legumes, or indeed of any other useful plant ; 

 while this crop is recommended as causing an 

 amelioration rather than an exhaustion of the 

 soil. 



The most usual and profitable manner of pro- 

 pagating this vegetable is by putting into the 

 ground the tubers, either whole or divided into 

 as many parts or sets as they contain eyes. The 

 sets are planted in lines from twenty to twenty- 

 four inches apart, either in drills or by the 

 dibble, at intervals of from twelve to fifteen 

 inches. The proper season for planting the main 

 crop is from the 1st of April, till the middle of 

 May, and a peck of seed potatoes is usually re- 

 quired to plant a bed of twelve feet by thirty- 

 two. 



It seems generally admitted, that the cuttings 

 should be made from large but not from over- 

 grown potatoes, and that it is not profitable to 

 plant either small potatoes or small cuttings. A 

 good set, part of a large potato, all other things 

 equal, will naturally produce a stronger and bet- 

 ter plant than part of a small potato, the crop 

 being in general proportioned to the weight of 

 the sets. They ought to weigh about two ounces 

 each, and should not be such small cuttings as 

 thrifty managers are so apt to employ. A large 

 cutting gives nourishment to the plant when 

 young, which promotes their future growth. 

 Mr George Lindly says, "the earliest tubers of the 

 potato are always those which have been pro- 

 duced from sets which have been cut with a 

 single eye to each. This circumstance should 

 be particularly attended to in the first crop, as I 

 have always found these ten days or a fortnight 

 earlier than those produced from sets which had 

 been cut with two or more eyes. I have tried 

 them several years, planting the single-eyed sets 

 in alternate drills with the others, and the differ- 

 ence has proved uniformly the same." 



In Lancashire they are convinced that the best 

 plan is to cut off the front or nose end, and also 

 the umbilical or tail end of a large potatoe, and 

 rejecting both, to take the middle part entire for 

 planting. The common practice of cutting the 

 potatoe down the middle, from nose to tail, is 

 not to be recommended. 



The advantages of large cuttings are satisfac- 

 torily proved by an experiment tried by Mr 

 Whyn Baker, in Ireland. He planted three 



