ON VEGETABLE CULTURE. 



1071 



quality, and adapted for home, market, or exhibition pur- 

 poses. For latest supplies Up-to-Date, Challenger, and The 

 Bruce are all excellent, and, having full eyes, there is 

 little waste in peeling. In the case of all the mid-season 

 or late varieties there should be at least 2^ft. between 

 the rows, and 15m. between the tubers in the rows, and they 

 should be planted as early in March as the weather and soil will 

 permit. A great mistake is made in planting late Potatoes at 

 the end of April or in May; not only is the quality im- 

 paired, but the crop is lighter, 

 and is more subject to disease 

 than are those planted in March. 

 Immediately the tops are through 

 the soil it is advisable to hoe 

 between the rows and to give an 

 application of 3cwt. of super- 

 phosphate and 2cwt. of kainit per 

 acre. After this rapid progress in 

 growth will be made, and the rows 

 should be " earthed up " as soon 

 as the tops are sufficiently high. 

 Beyond pulling out weeds no 

 further attention will be necessary 

 until the tops decay, then the crop 

 should be lifted, the tubers sorted 

 into two sizes (viz., those for cook- 

 ing and those for seed), and stored, 

 if possible, in sheds, protecting 

 them from frost by straw, and 

 taking care to reject all diseased 

 tubers, as these would spread the 

 rot into others. 



Fig. 



i8. — Phytophthora 



INFESTANS. 



Of Potato pests, there is none 

 so destructive as the fungus 

 Phytophthora infestans, though even this is not so common as 

 it was before the days of high (protective) moulding, the use 

 of disease-resisting varieties, and spraying with the Bordeaux 

 Mixture. The first indication to the gardener of the dreaded 

 disease are the brownish spots upon the foliage (Fig. 688). The 

 disease spreads with remarkable rapidity ; hence the necessity for 

 prompt measures — the rooting up and burning of infected plants 

 and the spraying of the remainder. In gardens the spraying with 

 Bordeaux Mixture or similar fungicide might be oftener adopted 

 as a preventive measure. We should then hear less of such 

 diseases as Phytophthora infestans and Leaf Curl {Macrosporium 

 solani). 



Of insects that may fairly be regarded as pests are the Wire- 

 worms, Leather-Jackets, and some of the Surface Caterpillars. 



