Further Experiments on the Potatoe. 525 



surface of the soil, and the next day about three inches of soil were 

 drawn over them, for the purpose of protecting them from ground 

 frosts, which in low and flat places like the Society's Garden, are 

 still prevalent at that time of the year. By the 2nd. of May the 

 whole surface of the ground in the division where the rows were 

 only six inches apart, was a mass of entangled stems. By the 20th 

 of the month, the stems in the division where the rows were one 

 foot and a half apart, had nearly covered the ground ; and, in a week 

 after, those in the two feet division were in the same state ; but 

 the ground was not covered during the whole season, where the 

 rows were two-and-a-half feet apart. 



The shoots from the whole tubers were, in all cases, much 

 stronger than those from the single eyes, but they began to be 

 prostrated in the six inch division on the 29th of May, and the 

 whole of them, in all the divisions, were in the same state by the 

 27th of June ; while the stems from the single eyes continued 

 erect till they began to turn yellow and wither, in the end of 

 August. This will, probably, account for the superiority of sets 

 over whole tubers ; could the crop be protected from winds, and 

 the stems of the tubers be prevented from breaking, I have no 

 doubt that tubers would yield the largest crop ; but their very 

 vigour makes them brittle, and once broken, they are no longer able 

 to perform their functions perfectly. 



The greatest length to which the stems attained was two feet ; 

 the principal part of them attained that length but many did not 

 exceed one foot and a half ; and those in the division where the 

 rows were at that distance were the most uniform in their appear- 

 ance. The important inferences to be drawn from this were after- 

 wards shewn by the result. 



On the 26th of September the whole crop was taken up, freed 

 from mould, and weighed. Where the rows were only six inches 

 apart a number of the new potatoes were partially decayed, and a 



