214 



CULINARY OR KITCHEN GARDEN. 



be those of slow decomposition ; and it is 

 equally clear that they should be distri- 

 buted equally over the ground. Vide 

 Preparation of the ground. 



In these opinions we are supported by 

 Dr Madden, who, in " Prize Essays of the 

 Highland and Agricultural Society," vol. 

 xiii. p. 359-70, observes, "that a manure, to 

 suit well for the potato crop, should pos- 

 sess the following qualities : It must be 

 spread equally through the soil, so that the 

 spongioles,atthe termination of the spread- 

 ing fibres of its roots, may be supplied with 

 nourishment. It must yield azote during 

 the whole period of the growth of the 

 plants — in fact, rather more is required 

 during the later period than prior to the 

 development of the tubers ; for, from M. 

 Boussingault's analysis, it appears that 

 they contain five per cent more of this 

 substance than the leaves. In an economi- 

 cal point of view, therefore, the best manure 

 for potatoes would be one which contained 

 plenty of azote, but still did not decompose 

 very rapidly — cow-dung, for example." 



Peat ashes is an excellent manure for 

 potatoes and turnips. Their constituents 

 are as follow : — 



Silica 32 



Sulphate of lime (gypsum) . . 12 

 Sulphate and muriate of soda (glauber 



and common salt) ... 6 



Carbonate of lime . . . . 40 



Oxide of iron .... 3 



Loss 7 



100 



— the quantity applied, 1 lb. to the square yard, 

 and applied in their most recent state. 



Guano, if applied in a liquid state, and 

 repeated frequently, will no doubt carry 

 on the crop until its complete state of 

 maturity has arrived ; but the best secu- 

 rity is to have the ground in high condi- 

 tion, either by large manuring for previous 

 crops, or by trenching in plenty of cow or 

 stable manure some time previous to 

 planting the sets, and diffusing it equally 

 over the whole. Salt has been beneficially 

 applied to potato crops. On a soil of a light 

 and sandy nature, without any manure, 

 the return was 308 bushels of tubers per 

 English acre ; while the same extent ad- 

 joining, manured with 20 bushels of salt, 

 gave a return of 584 bushels. Situation 

 has also as much to do as either soil or 

 manure in increasing the quantity of 

 starchy matter or mealiness in the tuber, 



as well as securing the crop. " This 

 starchy matter," Dr Lindley remarks 

 (" Gard. Chron.," 1842, p. 155), " can only 

 be formed abundantly by the action of 

 light upon the leaves, which are the na- 

 tural laboratory in which such secretions 

 take place, and from which they are con- 

 ducted by sure though hidden channels 

 to the tubers, where they are stored up. 

 To plant potatoes, therefore, in plantations 

 or orchards, or under the shade of trees, 

 is to prevent the formation of mealiness 

 which renders this plant so nutritious, 

 and to cause the tubers to be watery and 

 worthless." 



But the potato may suffer by its own 

 shade as much as by the shade of other 

 plants. When its sets are planted too 

 close, the branches shoot up and choke each 

 other, so that the more sets are planted 

 the smaller 'will be the crop of this plant. 

 Mr Knight was the first to point out this 

 common error, and to show that there is 

 a certain distance at which the sets of each 

 variety of potato should be planted, so as 

 to insure the greatest produce. By plant- 

 ing too close, the plants smother each 

 other • by planting at too great a distance, 

 land is uselessly wasted. Practice and 

 well-conducted experiments demonstrate 

 what theory suggested — that the true dis- 

 tance at which potatoes should be set is 

 determined by the average length of the 

 haulm. One kind of potato is dwarf, and 

 only grows 6 inches high ; its rows should 

 therefore only be 6 inches apart. Another 

 kind grows 3 feet high, and its rows should 

 be 3 feet asunder. The space from set to 

 set in the row appears to be immaterial ; 

 6 or 8 inches is sufficient for those which 

 grow 2 feet high. An experiment, made 

 in the gardens of the Horticultural Society 

 of London, " showed that the early cham- 

 pion, a sort whose stems are on an aver- 

 age 2 feet long, was planted in rows 2 feet 

 6 inches apart; the produce was 15 tons 

 1 9 cwt. 82 lb. net per acre," or, in round 

 numbers, 16 tons; "while, by reducing 

 the distance between the rows to 2 feet, 

 the produce was increased to 24 tons ; but, 

 by diminishing it still farther to 1 foot 6 

 inches, the produce was reduced to 22 tons 

 16 cwt. 102 lb.; and where the rows were 

 only 6 inches apart, the produce fell to 

 16 tons 17 cwt. 110 lb. Such an experi- 

 ment seems conclusive." 



As regards manure for potatoes, the 



