-182 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



following spring. To his surprise, the old ones had dried up, while small 

 ones were beginning to grow. These he planted in his garden with most 

 unexpected results, and the second season he had such a fine lot that he 

 came to see me on purpose to describe what had taken place. 



The question is often asked, " What made you begin these experiments ?" 

 Some six years ago we had an extraordinary crop of Potatos, and when 

 the family was tired of using them there were large quantities left in 

 store. Having a continual demand for fresh dishes of young vegetables 

 at all seasons, one has to rack one's brains to know what to get for a 

 change. To allow nature's bounty to run to waste is a sin, and it troubled 

 me for some time as to what to do with these old Potatos, till one day in 

 September, when they were almost past thinking about, I # attended a 

 Mutual Improvement Society's meeting at Reading, the lecture being on 

 " Potatos." In answer to a question during the after-discussion, the 

 lecturer remarked, " If a few old tubers were put in a Mushroom-house 

 with dry soil in August, a dish of new ones could be had for Christmas." 

 To me this seemed a long time about — still the hint was the key to my 

 thoughts. Next morning I made a start, and in a short time could easily 

 see how to convert old Potatos into new. The first dish was sent to the 

 kitchen in October, and in return we had the disappointing complaint 

 that when cooked they were black. The next experiment had to be in 

 cooking, as it was useless troubling about them if they were of no good 

 when sent in- The trials that followed showed that when the Potatos 

 were cooked in an iron saucepan they were black or rather dark, while if 

 an enamelled one were used they were perfectly right, nor did they require 

 so much boiling ; in fact, steaming was the most successful way of treat- 

 ing them. Such good results certainly encouraged fresh efforts, and the 

 next season we were rewarded with much more success. Plenty of old 

 tubers had been prepared : the first batch were started in August, and 

 when dishes were sent in for a dinner party on October 2 they caused so 

 much excitement that a flash-light photograph was taken of the crop 

 growing on a bench in a chalk cave, with little or no soil, the variety 

 being ' Windsor Castle.' 



So many inquiries were made about these little Potatos that I felt sure 

 there was a great deal more behind it than we had at that time any idea 

 of, and I at once set to work trying other varieties, each time using more 

 soil and different positions. * Up-to-date,' being a large tuber, suggested 

 itself as being suitable, but failed to show any small ones in dry soil, 

 although the tubers kept very firm. Thinking this over, I was prompted 

 to put them in the ground outside. The time was October and the 

 autumn exceptionally wet ; instead of the old tubers decaying, as I felt 

 sure they would, they gave us some good dishes of new Potatos which were 

 perfectly fresh and nice when cooked. From this departure we were 

 eventually taught how to get the flavour of fresh-grown new Potatos, 

 which could be easily cooked. 



Last autumn we started on a south border, laid out the tubers on the 

 surface and just covered them with fine leaf-mould ; and though the early 

 frost was very severe, no harm came to the little Potatos, which turned out 

 splendidly ; indeed, our Christmas supply was taken from outside. A few 

 of these were overlooked, and when preparing the border for this season's 



