216 



CULINARY OR KITCHEN GARDEN. 



carried to an enclosed place, well exposed to the 

 sun, and shut out from general view, and made 

 up into a mass 12 or 15 feet in breadth, 50 or 

 more feet in length, and 4 feet in height. When 

 hard trodden down, a fine genial fermentation 

 takes place. This mass is covered with frames 

 and sashes, and soil is laid on the surface of the 

 leaves to the depth of 6 inches : on this the 

 tubers of potatoes, when sprung a few inches 

 high, are planted, pease sown, lettuce planted, 

 and the full-grown roots of asparagus set. The 

 lights are put on, and in cold weather are covered 

 with felt shutters of a size corresponding to that 

 of the glass sashes. In such large masses a pretty 

 uniform heat is maintained without the aid of 

 linings ; and all the labour attending the process 

 of culture consists in ventilating, on all favour- 

 able occasions, protecting in cold weather by 

 covering, and planting or sowing for successional 

 crops. Potatoes may be placed in a slight heat, 

 in front of a vinery or similar place, when the 

 young shoots are sprung to the length of 3 or 4 

 inches ; or a better system is, when the young 

 roots have made 2 or 3 inches' progress, to sepa- 

 rate the plant from the tuber, and plant them 

 in the beds as above. Examine the soil at the 

 roots frequently, to see that they do not suffer 

 from a deficiency of moisture, as leaves, during 

 fermentation, give out a much less amount of 

 vapour than stable-yard manure does ; and Ji a 

 proper degree of humidity is not kept up at the 

 roots, the crop will be scanty and inferior in 

 quality. When the potatoes have fairly esta- 

 blished themselves, and their roots begin to ap- 

 pear on the surface, lay in between the rows 3 

 inches of dry fine soil, that has been kept for 

 some time under cover, choosing a fine warm day 

 for the purpose. 



Forcing potatoes in pots was successfully prac- 

 tised by the late T. A. Knight, Esq., the essence 

 of whose practice is to the following effect : 

 At the season when the general crop of early 

 potatoes is ripe, and in the process of being taken 

 up, select tubers having perfect eyes, and plant 

 then in 6-inch pots, one tuber in a pot. Bury 

 the pots in the ground till they are required for 

 planting ; during this period, the excitability of 

 the plants is not at all expended on account of 

 the low temperature at which they vegetate, and 

 therefore, when plunged in the hot-bed, they 

 instantly shoot with very great rapidity, and in 

 a few days begin to generate tubers. One stem 

 alone should be suffered to grow in each pot; 

 for where more remain, the tubers are smaller, 

 and the entire crop is not increased in weight. 

 The embryo shoots should be rubbed off as they 

 appear. When the plants grow in small pots, 

 the gardener will have apparently the advantage 

 of being able to take out the largest potatoes, 

 by inverting the pots, without materially injur- 

 ing the fibrous roots; but this will rarely be 

 found possible in practice, because the plants, 

 having the range of their roots confined to the 

 limits of the pots, soon occupy the whole of their 

 pasture, and therefore do not produce their 

 tubers in succession, as they will under ordinary 

 circumstances. Mr Knight confined his plants, 

 (which were naturally of a very dwarfish growth), 

 to small pots, because, under this mode of cul- 



ture, the tubers reach maturity sooner, and are 

 superior in quality : but the crop is not so heavy 

 as where the roots are permitted to extend 

 more widely; and, therefore, where a larger but 

 rather later crop is required, the best plan is to 

 place the tubers in small pots to vegetate, and 

 from these to remove them, with their roots 

 and germs uninjured, to the hot-bed. " I tried," 

 says this great experimentalist, " the effect of 

 placing a few tubers on the floor of my cellar, 

 disposing them just in contact with each other, 

 and as soon as the germs were about 4 inches 

 long, a hot-bed was made to receive them. This 

 experiment succeeded perfectly ; and as it is not 

 attended with so much expense and trouble as 

 either of the preceding methods, it will be found, 

 in most cases, the most eligible. All that appears 

 necessary to obtain an early crop is to advance 

 the growth of the plant as much as convenient 

 under a low temperature, so as to avoid all 

 unnecessary expenditure of its excitability, and 

 consequently to preserve its germs and roots, 

 as much as possible, uninjured by transplanta- 

 tion." We have long grown the potato in pots, 

 and with sufficient success ; but we would always 

 recommend the tubers being planted in the pots 

 as soon as they are ripe. By this process, the slow 

 and gradual vegetation is brought into action, 

 and the pots can be placed in any out-of-the- 

 way place until the young shoots begin to appear 

 above the ground, at which period, for reasons 

 that require no explanation, they should be 

 placed in a light and airy situation. Some will 

 vegetate sooner than others, and those that do 

 so should be first removed to the light ; and a 

 better place for them cannot be found than a 

 cool pit covered with glass, or suspended shelves 

 placed near the top of a vinery or peach-house, 

 but always where frost cannot reach them. This 

 slow process of germination is admirably adapted 

 for those that are to be placed in a little higher 

 temperature towards the end of January or 

 middle of February, or even later; but for those 

 intended to be excited by the end of November 

 or middle of December, a little more heat will 

 be required than that stated above. Of course, 

 a crop thus early produced can never be ex- 

 pected to be so good as one produced later in 

 the season. It is, however, a good plan to have 

 all the tubers intended for forcing planted in 

 pots, or laid on a floor, as Knight has recom- 

 mended, and to draw from that stock crop after 

 crop as they are to follow in succession. 



The London market-garden practice for forc- 

 ing early potatoes is thus detailed by Mr Cuthill 

 in his work already quoted : " When potatoes 

 are wanted early, a long bed 5 feet wide is dug 

 out to the depth of 2 feet. This trench is filled 

 with hot dung, on which 6 inches deep of the 

 surrounding mould is put. Middle-sized whole 

 potatoes are used for planting : they are placed 

 in close succession along the bed, covered with 

 2 inches of mould, hooped, and covered over 

 with mats and straw. In about a month they 

 will have sprouted ; frames are then got ready, 

 placing 2 feet of hot manure along the whole 

 line of framing, which is sometimes 1 00 yards 

 in length ; the mould is put on to the depth of 

 8 inches ; the potatoes are carefully taken up 



