KITCHEN-GARDEN VEGETABLES. 
ary sprout practically spoils Ashleaf as well as 
those with Lapstone blood in them, and greatly 
weakens the others. The former should there- 
fore be stored in single layers, largest or sprout 
end upwards, in, shallow trays or baskets (fig. 
1257), which may be stored one above another, 
always providing a certain amount of light and 
Fig. 1257.—Sprouted Seed-Potatoes. 
air reaches them. They even keep better left 
heavily moulded up where they were grown 
than they do in hampers, deep boxes, cellars, 
and warm rooms. All other varieties ought also 
to be stored thinly, and given all the light and 
air possible short of allowing them to be badly 
injured by frosts. 
Potato Sets.—The eyes at the base of a Potato | 
are few compared with those at the top, and 
they are also sometimes blind, or so weak that 
they do not push. Such sorts as Snowdrop, 
which have the eyes almost level with the 
general surface, are most apt to be blind. As 
the base of the eye slants downwards towards 
the centre of the tuber, the knife should be 
inserted above the eye, and the cut should slant 
downwards towards the centre, and parallel to 
the direction of the base of the eye. In times 
of scarcity, recourse has been had to merely 
scooping out the eyes for sets, or stamping 
them out with a hollow punch, the bulk of the 
Potato in either case being left for food. By 
early planting in well-prepared soil, good plants 
can be reared by this mode, especially if the 
season prove favourable. 
When only small portions of the tuber 
accompany the bud, the planting should be 
performed as early in spring as the state of 
the weather will permit. If the weather or 
state of the ground be unfavourable, the small 
pieces for sets may be placed with the buds 
493 
upwards in soil under cover till they can be 
planted out in the open ground. Others cut 
the sets and dry them before planting, but this 
does not appear to be of any advantage; on the 
contrary, many of the dried sets do not push at 
all, and others but weakly. 
A change of sets is advantageous. Instead 
of using tubers produced for many years suc- 
cessively in the same soil and in the same 
locality, it is found advantageous to obtain sets 
grown in a different soil, or in a different part 
of the country, or both. That it is profitable 
to procure sets from a higher part of the country 
is highly probable. The superiority of sets 
grown in elevated situations is probably to be 
attributed to the plants being well exposed to 
light. Tubers grown in shaded situations are 
ot bad quality as compared with those produced 
in the open fields, all other circumstances being 
the same. We therefore conclude, that sets are 
best from tubers grown in elevated situations, 
not because they may happen to be more watery 
than those grown in low ground, but from the 
plants having had the advantage of a greater 
share of light, in consequence of which their 
organization is more perfect; and as it is ad- 
mitted that a change of sets is beneficial, that 
change should be from high open situations to 
such as are lower. 
Planting.—The usual time of planting is 
spring, and the earlier the better, provided the 
ground is in proper working order. If this be 
the case in the end of February, so much the 
better; but at all events the planting should be 
done by the Ist of March, or as early in that 
month as circumstances will permit. The late 
Thomas Andrew Knight paid much attention 
to the cultivation of the Potato, and with great 
success. With regard to the period of planting, 
he says, I have uniformly found that to obtain 
crops of Potatoes of great weight and excellence, 
the period of planting should never be later 
than the beginning of March. 
Autumn planting has been recommended as 
a preventive of the disease; but, if the Potatoes 
are kept in contact with soil of nearly the same 
temperature as the ground, they will be in 
much the same circumstances as if they were 
planted, only more secure from the injurious 
effects of frost and saturation. Besides, the 
ground when planted and dug before winter, 
and afterwards drenched and beaten by the 
winter rains, cannot be in such good condition 
for the progress of the roots as that which 
is newly prepared at the time of planting in 
spring. 
