PLANTING LIST 



363 



Cj, "V;j 



Prepare the ground well, and scatter in the rows, below the seed- 

 pieces, a good dressing of high-grade potato fertilizer, bought of a 

 reliable dealer. Cut the large potatoes to at least two eyes ; small 

 ones, of the size of a hen's egg, are very satisfactory to sow whole. 

 For earliness, all seed potatoes (uncut) may be started in a warm 

 cellar, near the light, and set out as soon as the shoots are two inches 

 long. 



Early potatoes may be set eighteen inches apart each way, or 

 twelve by eighteen inches if space is small, and if the plants are to 

 be well fed and highly 

 cultivated. Give la- 

 ter plants more space. 

 Set all pieces four 

 inches underground, 

 lest the new tubers, 

 as they form, rise 

 above the ground, 

 and so get sun-burned 

 and spoiled. Deep 

 setting will save hil- 

 ling the potatoes (or 

 earthing up), which 

 in spite of old practice 

 is not good for the crop, as it cuts many roots that feed near the 

 surface, and dries out the soil. In wet soil, depth 3 inches. 



The worst enemies of the growing plants are the potato-bug 

 and the flea-beetle ; the serious diseases are the blights. To fight 

 them all, spray the plants as soon as they are a few inches high, and 

 after that every ten days, with Bordeaux mixed with arsenate of 

 lead, or Paris green, which for small gardens can usually be bought 

 ready mixed, needing only water to be ready for spraying. The 

 arsenate sticks better. This frequent spraying is best in the long 

 run, and there is no excuse except carelessness or laziness for apply- 

 ing either the spray or the poison alone. 



Potatoes should be carefully cultivated after every rain, and 

 weekly in a drought. Dig the early ones as they are needed; 



Fig. 204. 



- Set your potatoes deep and don't 

 "hill" them. Why? 



