Potato Growing. 



487 



over a large proportion of the 1,200,000 acres grown in the 

 United Kingdom, to say nothing of those required in the 

 Colonies and abroad. 



It must not be taken that any new variety is capable of 

 giving these exceptional returns ; it must be an exceptional 

 variety to do so. Hundreds of new varieties are brought out 

 and do not become sufficiently profitable to pay the introducer 

 for raising them. We would also warn those who would become 

 developers against re-introductions. It has been our practice 

 for many years to grow a small quantity of several new intro- 

 ductions yearly to test their merits, and we have never missed 

 a year where we have not found instances where some new 

 popular variety has not been re-named by a firm other than the 

 original introducer, and very often a variety in this way receives 

 many names. This sometimes happens some years after the 

 original introduction. We can give instances where as much as 

 £80 has been charged per ton under a new name for what, under 

 its original name, could be bought freely for £5. 



In respect to cutting out each eye singly, the planting 

 in separate pots is done to guard the valuable young plant 

 from injury from insects, such as wireworm, or from more 

 minute eelworms which, as scavengers, rapidly infect dying or 

 wounded vegetables, or even from bacterial decay ; and, at the 

 same time to provide the most favourable conditions for growth, 

 and to have them under control against frost for a longer period. 

 We usually transplant from the plots when the plants are from 

 4 in. to 7 in. high. 



For nearly a century, experiments to prove whether cut or 

 uncut sets are most profitable have been carried out without 

 throwing much light on a very simple matter. The skin of a 

 potato is a natural protection against insect and other attack ; 

 moreover, it retains moisture ; consequently, ail uncut set, is able 

 to overcome the most difficulties ; therefore, on ill-prepared land, 

 or during very dry periods, uncut sets give the young plant the 

 best start. By liming the cut sets with fresh lime the risks 

 alluded to are greatly lessened, and with this precaution, with 

 land in good condition and well prepared, we should not give 

 much more per ton for uncut sets than cut ones. There 

 is one exception, however, as it is found in practice that 



