KITCHEN-GARDEN 
less, they should be protected from light till 
they are pitted. If stored ina shed, loft, cellar, 
or any other place, light should be entirely ex- 
cluded; if in a building, to the interior of which 
light must be admitted, it should nevertheless 
be prevented from reaching the tubers by some 
close covering. Tubers intended to be used as 
sets are supposed to be improved by partial 
greening. 
Protection from Frost.—In choosing materials 
to protect the tubers from frost, and at the 
same time preserve them from being injured 
through heat or rot, care should be taken to 
avoid using anything that is likely to taint their | 
flavour. Potatoes keep best in small quantities ; 
for, when in large heaps, they sometimes fer- 
ment. The form of a ridge is more convenient 
than that of a cone, because when portions are 
taken out for use the breach in the end of the 
ridge can be more easily closed than one in the 
side of a conical heap. The ridges should run 
north and south, so that if it be necessary to 
open them in frosty weather, that may be done 
at the south end, when the sun’s rays at noon 
will prevent that part from being frozen. The 
ridge may be about 3 feet, or not more than 
4 feet wide at the base, and as high as the 
Potatoes can be conveniently piled up. It 
should not be formed on wet heavy ground; 
that which is poor, dry, and on a slope is to be 
preferred. In throwing up the soil for covering, 
a trench will be formed round the base of the | 
ridge, and this trench should be made deepest 
at one end, from which a track should be cut, 
so that water may not collect in the trench, 
which ought in all cases to be lower than the 
base of the ridge. In dry soil the latter may 
be sunk a few inches, but if otherwise the 
Potatoes should be laid quite on the surface of | 
the ground. 
As already observed, soil is best next the 
tubers, and the poorer it is the better. Straw 
admits of the Potatoes being taken out compara- 
tively free from earth; but as it decays from 
contact with the soil, it injuriously affects their 
flavour. Dry turf may be laid next the Pota- 
toes to prevent loose soil from mixing with them, 
or fresh turf laid with its green side outwards 
may be used for the same purpose; but as re- 
gards flavour these appliances are unnecessary, 
if not worse. 
After covering with 8 or 9 inches of soil, it 
is a good plan to thatch the ridges with straw, 
fern, heath, or any other material calculated to 
keep out frost and wet. Potatoes intended to 
VEGETABLES. 497 
placed in a shaded situation where the sun's 
rays cannot affect the ridges. If the soil of 
these should happen to be frozen in spring to 
the depth of a few inches, then by covering 
thickly with straw the Potatoes may be kept 
from pushing much longer than would otherwise 
be the case. 
FORCED POTATOES. 
Potatoes are forced in various ways—on hot- 
beds, in pits, and in pots placed in a vinery, 
Peach-house, or other structure where there is 
moderate heat with plenty of light. 
Hot-beds.—The tubers which are to be used 
for sets are placed close together on a gentle hot- 
bed, or on the floor of a cellar, to vegetate, and 
when they have made shoots 3 or 4 inches long 
they may be planted on the hot-bed and covered 
with 8 inches of good light soil. They may be 
planted 6 inches apart, in drills 5 inches deep, 
and 1 foot from each other, and covered with 
2 inches of light soil; afterwards, when the 
stems grow strong, the drills can be filled up 
level with the rest of the surface. Water 
should be given sparingly, but as the plants 
increase in size it may be more liberally sup- 
plied. Air must be freely admitted whenever 
the weather is favourable; but at night, and in 
frosty weather, the sashes will require to be 
covered with straw mats or other protecting 
materials. A mild and nearly uniform tem- 
perature should be maintained. The tubers 
may be used when they are about 1 inch in 
diameter, the largest being taken first, and the 
small ones being left to afford a supply in suc- 
cession. 
London market-gardeners obtain early Po- 
tatoes by the following method:—A long bed, 
5 feet wide, is dug out to the depth of 2 feet. 
This is filled with hot dung, on which is placed 
a 6-inch layer of soil. Medium-sized whole 
Potatoes are used for planting; they are 
covered with 2 inches of soil, hooped, and 
covered over with mats and straw. In about 
a month they will have sprouted; frames are 
then got ready, placing 2 feet of hot manure 
along the whole line of framing, which is some- 
times 100 yards in length; on this the soil is put 
to the depth of 8 inches; the Potatoes are care- 
fully taken up from the striking-bed, all shoots 
are removed except the main one, and they are 
planted 4 inches deep. Radishes are then sown 
thinly over them. When the haulm of the 
Potato is 6 inches high, the points are nipped 
be kept till the following summer should be | off; this is done in order to give the Radishes 
