THE YIXE AXD ITS FRUIT. 



301 



propriety of not allowing- the tubers to produce roots 

 or to sprout till we are ready to plant, because aU 

 such. groNvi;h. must be at the expense of the parent 

 tuber. But if planted before such growth takes 

 place, then as soon as new roots are formed they are 

 at once available to supply the tuber with water, 

 and not overstrain it in carrying on those wonderful 

 changes which convert a dormant mass of cellular 

 tissue into a focus of movement and chemical and 

 physical change. 



So, too, we may see that the practice which some 

 follow of rubbing off the " chits," or shoots that may 

 have been produced, before planting is so much 

 waste ; they will form again, it is true, but a wanton 

 injury willhave been done and time will have been 

 lost. It is the practice with some when planting to 

 suppress all the eyes but one near one end of the 

 tuber. The reason given for this is that the one 

 left will be able to avail itself of the food provided 

 for the rest. But if a good hauhn is to be made 

 — and that, it must be admitted, is the necessary 

 precursor to a good crop — it must be bad practice to 

 suppress the many for the sake of the one — to have 

 one group of leaves and roots only instead of many. 

 But supposing growth goes on uninterruptedly, the 

 roots which emerge from the base of the shoots grow, 

 divide and subdi\dde, multiply exceedingly, accord- 

 ing to the nature and quality of the soil. 



The value of the earthing-up process usually 

 adopted consists in this : the earth drawn up round the 

 collar increases the food-supplying surface, gives the 

 roots more range, secures a greater supply of air to 

 the roots through the loose soil, and, provided it be 

 not raised too high, is of unmixed benefit to the plant. 

 Moreover, under certain cii'cumstances, it may pre- 

 vent the spores of the Potato fungus being washed 

 down into the soil — an argument used by ]\Ir. Jensen 

 in support of his practice of "high moulding." 

 The first object of the cultivator is to encourage 

 free, rapid, and healthy growth of root and haulm. 

 The reason is obvious ; root and leaf are necessary 

 to the growth of the plant, and essential to the for- 

 mation of the tubers. Once pro\'ided with a good 

 supply by means of the true roots and leaves, the 

 plant sets itself to work to provide for the future. 

 It may do this in two ways — by the formation of 

 flowers, fruit, and seed, or by the production of 

 tubers. We may here leave seed-production out of 

 our calculations, because in most cases it is the 

 tubers we want, not the seeds, save in exceiDtional 

 cases. At the same time that the roots below-ground 

 and the haulm above-ground are doing their work, 

 collecting and preparing the food, the tubers are 

 gradually developing below-ground on the subter- 

 ranean portions of the stem. 



In its native country the Potato is exposed, after the 



growiag season, to a period of drought, and all above- 

 ground vegetation dries up, where with us it/ots. In 

 either case the destruction of the leafage is complete, 

 and were it not for the tubers safely ensconced 

 below-ground, the chance of perpetuating the plant 

 would be small. True, it might be propagated by 

 seed, but only a small proportion of seed is formed ; 

 that is subject to depredations fi^om birds, and liable 

 to other accidents ; and, moreover, reproduction by its- 

 means is necessarily a slower process than that by 

 the tubers buried safely beneath the gTOund, out of 

 the reach of hungry animals or birds, and placed 

 under more equable climatic conditions than they 

 would be above-groimd, where cold nights, and even 

 frost, succeed to torrid days. The question ob- 

 viously arises whether in this country autumn 

 planting might not be more beneficial than that in 

 spring. But it must be remembered that the Potato 

 in OUT fields and gardens is under very difierent con- 

 ditions to what it is in the wild state. Our cold, 

 wet soils are not at all well adapted to keep such 

 succulent masses ; and, again, our spring frosts play 

 havoc enough as it is with the young shoots, and 

 would do still more in the case of autumn-planted 

 tubers, unless protected. 



THE YINE AND ITS ERUIT. 



By William Coleman. 



mAXAGEMENT OF NEWLY-PLANTED VINES. 



First Year. — Assuming that yearling vines (refer 

 again to Fig. 13) of home growth have been planted 

 in a house by the first of March, the permanent vines 

 from five to six feet apart, and the supernumeraries 

 midway between them, the great object will now be the 

 production of an abundance of healthy foliage, roots, 

 and well-ripened wood. The gentle fermentation in 

 the borders, aided and maintained by a ridge of 

 warm leaves, will facilitate the formation of new 

 roots, and the buds will break strong under the 

 influence of a minimum of fire-heat. As soon as the 

 buds have pushed half an inch or a little more, 

 gradually remove them from the temporary vines 

 down to a little below the top of the front sash, leave 

 the remainder to grow for a time, and when two of 

 the strongest breaks take the lead, allow them to 

 grow on together until the best is considered safe 

 fi'om accidents, then stop the weaker of the two. 



Next turn attention to the permanent vines, and 

 after disbudding down to three of the best buds 

 close to the base of the young cane, allow one to 

 grow up as a leader, and train the other two, one on 

 each side, midway between the permanent and tem- 

 porary vines. If the greater distance (six feet) has 

 been allowed, these canes will be exactly eighteen 



