18 Cultivation of the Potatoe. 
before harvest time; and nothing remains to be done for them 
till they are ready for taking up. 
When the soil is tenacious and exposed to humidity, I 
prefer the following method of cultivation : 
The soil having been well prepared, lines crossing trans- 
versely are traced with the marking plough, and a potatoe 
set at each intersection. The planting goes on much more 
quickly in this way; one man can easily plant three acres 
per day. The small horse-hoe is then passed close to each 
row, and covers it with earth, When weeds spring up, they 
are destroyed by passing the large horse-hoe in the same 
direction, an operation which is performed whether the pota- 
toes have come up or not. When the potatoes have grown 
up to a certain height, the banks or edges formed by the 
hoe in the last cultivation are cut transversely with the large 
hoe; another and final cultivation is perhaps given in the 
direction of the first. 
The advantages presented by this method when applied to 
an argillaceous soil are very striking. The potatoe is sur- 
rounded on all sides by light earth, and dung heaped around 
it. Itis preserved from any excess of moisture that might 
injure the crop, because it is placed above the bottom of the 
furrow by which the water drains off. The soil in which it 
rests is also thoroughly warmed by the sun. But this meth- 
od is recommended for those soils only in which potatoes 
might suffer from excess of moisture, as a sharpish frost 
attacking the potatoes before they were gathered might pen- 
etrate too deeply into the ridges. 
When the earth has been laid up for the last time, and the 
potatoes begin to blossom, they must be left quiet; for it is 
then that the young tubers are formed. > 
Some persons haye recommended that the flowers be cut 
off, in order to increase the growth of the tubers; but the 
recommendation is absurd. Cullen, of Edinburgh, observed 
