Potatoes for Seed. 117 
queries to the principal farmers in the Lingdom, calculated to 
elicit the facts necessary to determine this point. The ciicu- 
lar and the answers were published in a large quarto volume, 
together with the report of the cominittee charged with the 
arrangement and publication of the facts. The statements 
are so vaiiant, that the committee were unable to recommend 
any particular practice, as that which was most successful in 
one case, proved defective in other cases. The only impor- 
tant fact settled by the inquiry was, that potatoes differ very 
materially, in some cases fifty per cent., in their nutritive 
properties, a consideration as material for the stall as for the 
table. Since the date of that publication, however, very nice 
experiments have been made in Great Britain, particularly in 
Scotland, and by Mr. Knight, and also in the United States, 
From these we draw the following conclusions: 
1. That in this latitude the potatoe is better, both as to pro- 
duce and flavor, when grown on a moist and cool, than when 
grown on a warm and dry soil— better on a moderately loose 
and friable, than on a hard and compact soil. 
2. That they do better on a grass lay than on stubble — 
and better with a long or unfermented manure, than with 
short muck. 
8. That medium sized whole tubers give a better crop than 
sets of very large tubers. 
4, That drills or rows should be adapted to the growth of 
the tops, and the condition of the soil—the small growing 
tops nearer, and those having larger tops farther apart —so 
that the sun may not be excluded from the intervals; and 
where the soil is stiff, or the sod tough, hills are considered 
preferable to drills. 
5. That if the ground be well prepared, and the seed well 
covered, they are not benefited by heavy earthing; and that 
plowing among them, or earthing them, alter they come in 
bloom, is prejudicial. 
