THE POTATO. 



641 



greater depth, then more space must be allowed between the rows for 

 earthing up. " In one of the experiments above alluded to, different 

 depths were also inquired into, when the rates of produce were nearly 

 as follows: — Three inches deep gave 13 tons; four inches, 14 tons; six 

 inches, 14^ tons ; and nine inches, 18 tons. At so great a depth as nine 

 inches, sets are apt to perish, unless the soil is dry, light, and warm. The 

 deeper, however, the sets can be safely inserted, the better, for the following 

 reason : — Potatoes are formed on underground branches ; the deeper the 

 set, the more branches wUl be formed before the shoots emerge from the 

 soil, and consequently the more ample will be the means possessed by the 

 potato plant of forming tubers. The important practice of earthing up is 

 to effect the same end, by compelling the potato stem to gi'ow as much as 

 possible under ground. 



" The best method of increasing a crop of potatoes is to destroy all the 

 flowers as they appear. The flowers and fruit of plants are formed at the 

 expense of the secretions elaborated by the leaves ; if of those secretions a 

 part is consumed ia the organisation of flowers and fruit, there is so much 

 the less to accumulate in the tubers ; but if no such consumption is per- 

 mitted, the tubers will become the depositories of all the nutritious matter 

 which the plant is capable of producing." — (6r. C., 1842, p. 155.) 



A very common error in the garden culture of the potato is to plant them 

 too thick, in consequence of which, for want of light to the foliage, the 

 tubers never become mealy. A better mode would be to plant the rows at 

 such distances as to allow room for a row of brocoli, Brussels sprouts, or 

 borecole, between them, the stems of which would be sufl&ciently tall not to 

 be injured by the foliage of the potato by the time it reached them in the 

 autumn. We have seen a long-stemmed sort of potato grown on espaliers, 

 and an immense crop produced. 



1408. For an early crop. — The sets may be planted m the first week of 

 October, in a sheltered dry situation, in light sandy soil, eight inches or nine 

 inches deep, and the surface of the ground afterwards covered with long dry 

 litter in such a manner as to exclude the frost and throw off rain. To 

 facilitate the latter object, the sets are best planted in beds, the rain being 

 conducted by the litter to the alleys ; or three rows may be planted at a foot 

 apart, leaving every third interval of the width of twelve feet. The plants 

 will appear above ground in March, and with the usual routine culture, and 

 nightly protection till all danger from frost is over, they will produce pota- 

 toes fit to gather in May, or early in June. Another mode is to forward the 

 sets by laying them on dry straw in a warm loft, room, or cellar, or on the 

 floor of a greenhouse in January, or the beginning of February ; and when 

 they have produced shoots of two inches or three inches in length, which 

 will be the case about the middle or end of March, to plant them out in dry, 

 warm, sheltered soil, covering them with litter at night, and exposing them 

 to the sun during the day. Both these modes are practised in Lancashire 

 and Cheshire, and by both young potatoes are brought to market by the 

 first week of J une, and sometimes earlier. By using whole potatoes as 

 sets, burning out with a red-hot u'on all the eyes except one, the abundant 

 nutriment thus supplied increases the rapidity of the growth of the young 

 shoots, and produces both an abundant and an early crop. Planting either 

 sets, or sprouted sets, at the base of a south wall, and giving nightly pro- 

 tection, will produce potatoes fit to gather about the end of May ; and sets 



