JULT, 1910.] 



53 



and Co-operation, 



or barley seeds, Seeds are rarely al- 

 lowed to remain more than one year. 

 The success of agriculture in the district 

 is mainly dependent upon the potato 

 crop and its accompanying catch crops ; 

 special attention is devoted to their 

 cultivation, and in no part of the coun- 

 try is the potato crop seen in greater 

 perfection, The method adopted in the 

 management of the early crop and the 

 succeeding green crop is practised but 

 little, and possibly not at all, outside 

 the country ; there must, however, be 

 many localities for which it is well 

 suited and to whish it could be intro- 

 duced with advantage. It had its origin 

 in the market garden area near Liver- 

 pool, and has extended over a wide area 

 in this district during recent years. It 

 is now extensively practised in para- 

 sites where it was practically unknown 

 fifteen years ago. 



Potato Growing,— The early potato crop 

 is almost invariably taken after seeds, 

 for the crop is found to flourish better 

 and also to be of better quality when 

 following sward. The sward is lightly 

 ploughed, skimmed or pared, in autumn, 

 and after the turf has decayed it is pulled 

 to pieces with the cultivator and har- 

 rows. A good deep furrow is then taken 

 and the ground remains in this condition 

 until spring. Dung is very rarely plough- 

 ed in during autumn or winter ; most of 

 those who have tried this metJiod find that 

 it does not answer. After the land has 

 been brought into a good tilth in spring, 

 it is drawn out into ridges 27 in. wide, 

 and dung is applied in the furrows at the 

 rate of 20 to 25 tons per acre. The dung 

 comes from Liverpool and other Lan- 

 cashire towns ; its cost varies with the 

 season, but in spring it can generally be 

 obtained delivered at the local railway 

 stations at about 6s. to 7s. per ton. The 

 use of artificial manures either alone or 

 in conjunction with dung is exceptional. 

 The ridges are split to cover the dung, 

 and the potatoes previously sprouted in 

 boxes are either planted in holes, made 

 along the top of the ridge with a dibbler, 

 and filled, after the sets have been 

 deposited in them, by the stroke of a 

 fork, or they are worked in with a spade. 

 In the latter method of planting, a work- 

 man sticks his spade into the ridge and 

 lifts the soil a little both upward and 

 forward, while another labourer deposits 

 a set in the hole he has thus made. 

 When the spade is withdrawn the soil 

 falls back over the set. Anyone unac- 

 quainted with this mode of planting 

 would think it slow and expensive, but 

 it is not really so. A couple of workers 

 taking turns at. r the spade and the 

 potato-basket can plant three-quarters 



of an acre in a day. The open furrows 

 and the sides of the ridges are kept clean 

 after planting by means of horse-hoeing, 

 and, if it can be done without injury to 

 the sets, saddle harrows are run over 

 the tops of the ridges. As soon as the 

 whole of the young shoots are well 

 above ground the crop is hand-hoed and 

 cleaned, the cultivator, «et as wide as 

 possible without disturbing the potatoes, 

 is worked deeply between the rows, 

 after which the crop is moulded up. 

 This often completes the cultivation of 

 the potato crop to the time of digging, 

 but more frequently it is followed by 

 another round of the cultivator and 

 moulding plough. 



Plants for the catch crop have by this 

 time been raised on a seed-bed, and the 

 furrows between the ridges are now 

 prepared for their reception. Little 

 mounds of earth are made along the 

 furrows by means of a horse implement 

 known locally as a " rooker," the work- 

 ing parts of which consist of one or more 

 cultivator tines and a spade. The tines 

 stir the soil, which is then collected by 

 the spade and deposited at intervals of 

 2Jr oi 2| ft. by the workman lifting the 

 handles, A wheel in front regulates 

 the depth of the work. Planted upon 

 these mounds the cabbages or cauli- 

 flowers become well established and 

 make a certain amount of growth be- 

 fore the potato crop is I'emoved. Varie- 

 ties of potatoes which produce little or 

 only a moderate amount of haulm are 

 preferred on account of their favouring 

 the catch crop. The potatoes are neces- 

 sarily dug by hand and the green haulm 

 is buried in the furrows. As soon as 

 the cabbage or cauliflower crop has 

 entire possession of the laud, a dressing 

 of nitrate of soda is usually applied. 

 The remaining cultivation is simple, 

 consisting merely of once cultivating 

 between the rows and moulding up, and 

 tends to bring the dung which was 

 under the potato rows close to the 

 young plants. Under favourable cir- 

 cumstances the ground is, soon after 

 the potato crop is marketed, almost 

 completely covered again with a thriv- 

 ing crop. Returns under this system 

 vary, of course, according to the 

 markets and the earliness of the potato 

 crop. Under the best conditions as 

 much as £45 per acre must frequently 

 have been made in recent years, while 

 £37 per acre may be looked upon as a 

 fair average result. These figures refer, 

 of course, to the two crops produced in 

 one year, but occurring on the same 

 land only once in five years. 



Disposal oj Crops.— Almost the whole 

 of the produce from this district, includ- 



