116 PIGTOHIAL PB ACTIO AL VEGETABLE GROWING. 



will keep fresh and sound a very long time. In February they 

 should be set on end to sprout ; and if a fairly large seed pushes two or 

 more sprouts, a knife may be passed between them, and through the 

 Potato longitudinally, so as to give two sets in plaxe of one. The 

 cut surfaces may be seared with lime or soot. 



When should Potatoes be planted ? All a question of soil and 

 situation. On a Avarm, sheltered border, especially if the soil be 

 light, February or early March planting is safe ; but in exposed 

 places, particularly if the soil be stifif and cold, April is quite soon 

 enongli. People exaggerate the advantages of early planting, or fai! 

 to see how inevitably they are modified by circumstances. In 1901 

 my best piece of Potatoes was Up-to-Date planted at the end of 

 May, and not from very grand seed either. If the seed is in a good 

 store, is fresh, and is sprouting well, it is often better than in the 

 ground. Autumn planting crops up now and then, generally as a 



FIG. 69. -A POTATO PLOUGH. 



1, steel plate 10 by 18 inches, I inch thick, cut as shown by the 



dotted line. 



2, handle, 4 feet 8 inches long. 



3, a piece of iron, 14 by IJ inches by | inch. The moulds are 



riveted to this, and it is then welded to the handle. 



consequence of some experiment in that direction which has happened 

 to turn out well. It may be tried, but it can never become general. 



The depth to plant is in some degree dependent on the soil, but 

 4 inches should be the minimum in heavy, and 6 inches in light, soil. 



It is, I suppose, needless to say that the man who has a choice 

 between a light and friable soil and a stiff and heavy one should 

 choose the former. To their credit be it spoken, many owners ot 

 strong soil turn out excellent Potatoes, but it cannot be gainsaid that 

 a sandy loam is the ideal soil for Potatoes. It occasionally happens, 

 though not often, that the two different classes of soil are found in 

 one parish : such is the case in the one in which I now write. 

 Judging by general work there, the heavy soil men are the best 

 gardeners, ljut the light soil brigade show the best Potatoes. Un- 

 happily, most of us have no choice in this very important matter, 

 and we mnst do the best we can with what we liave, working on 

 the principles set forth in previous cha})ters on soil and manuring. 



I Wanting Potatoes closely is bad in two ways : (1) It means 

 crowding, which favours weak growth, (2) it leaves an inadequate 



