POTATO. 



produce tlie curl. Then divide the middle of the potato^ 

 so as to have not more than one good eye in each set. 

 When the potato^scoop [an instrument for digging out the 

 eyes of potatoes] is used, take care to apply it so as the eye 

 or bud may be in the centre of each set, which this instru- 

 ment produces, of a semi-globular form. The larger the 

 portion of tuber left to each eye, so much the greater w^ill 

 be the progress of the young plants." — Loudon, 



By some experiments which were made by J. Whitlaw, 

 Esq., and given in detail in the iV. E. Farmer^ vol. i. p. 53, 

 and voL iv. p. 314, these tw^o important facts were made 

 apparent : 1st. Large potatoes are much better for seed than 

 small ones, 2d. It is best to cut off the but and top-ends 

 from, each potato, and cut the middle pieces into quarters, 

 before planting. Knight, the famous English horticulturist, 

 has found, that, for a late crop, small sets [seed potatoes] 

 may be used ; because the plants of the late varieties al- 

 ways acquire considerable age before they begin to gene- 

 rate tubers ; but for an early crop, he recommends the 

 largest tubers ; and he has found, that these not only afford 

 very strong plants, but also such as readily recover when 

 injured by frost ; for, being fed by a copious reservoir be- 

 neath the soil, a re-production of vigorous stems and foliage 

 soon takes place, when those first produced are destroyed 

 by frost or other cause. He adds, "When the planter is 

 anxious to obtain a crop within the least possible time, he 

 will find the position, in which the tubers are placed to 

 vegetate, by tio means a point of indifference ; for these, 

 being shoots or branches which have grown thick instead 

 of elongating, retain the disposition of branches to propel 

 the sap to their leading buds, or points most distant from 

 the stems of the plants of which they once formed parts. 

 If the tubers be placed with their leading buds upwards, a 

 few very strong and very early shoots will spring from 

 them ; but if their position be reversed, many weaker and 

 later shoots will be produced ; and not only the earliness, 

 but the quality of the produce, in size, Vvdll be much af- 

 fected." — Hart. Trans, iv. p. 448. 



M'Mahon advises to cut seed potatoes " a week before 

 planting, in order that the wounds should have time to 

 form a dry crust; for, if planted immediately after being cut, 

 they imbibe too much moisture, many of them rot, and the 

 rest are greatly weakened thereby." Some advise to wet 

 seed potatoes, and roll them in pulverized plaster of Paris, 

 immediately before planting. 



