RETARDED POTATOS. 



483 



work on February 1 we found several good dishes, samples of which were 

 sent to gentlemen able to give a fair judgment, and they said " The young 

 Potatos are excellent." This proves to me that we have as yet only made 

 a beginning, and I feel sure many will be surprised at future possibilities 

 of this system of producing good young Potatos at a season when they 

 cannot be had by any other reasonable treatment. 



In selecting the tubers for retarding, a start should be made in autumn 

 when the crop is harvested, picking out the largest and best matured. 

 Personally I prefer to grow a few varieties separately, so as to leave them 

 in the ground as long as possible without harm. Store in a dry place 

 where the temperature varies as little as possible and where the Potatos 

 can be easily overhauled. Remove all signs of growth as soon as seen, to 

 prevent unnecessary waste in the tubers, as future success depends on 

 keeping them quite firm. This must be done thoroughly until July, 

 when with varieties like ' Windsor Castle ' all signs of leaf growth will 

 cease. Late Maincrops will require this treatment longer, according to 

 the condition of the crop when scored. During August the young ones 

 will begin to form ; sort over and pick out all of one even stage for the 

 first batch. Repeat this at intervals as required, allowing about six weeks 

 to develop a crop. The early supplies can be treated outside on any 

 vacant piece of ground ; level the surface and lay out the tubers so that 

 they almost touch ; cover with fine leaf-mould or any fine soil (potting- 

 shed sif tings will do well), as the small Potatos may then be picked 

 without disturbing the bulk. They may also be treated in cellars, 

 Mushroom-houses, heated frames, in shallow boxes under stages, in caves, 

 &c. I can truthfully say we have succeeded in every instance mentioned. 



' Windsor Castle ' is certainly the best variety to begin with, but other 

 Maincrops are needed to keep the supply going till they can be had from 

 pots and frames ; a continual supply may thus be had the whole year 

 through. My best results have been from a late Maincrop grown in 

 Lincolnshire, and the most interesting part of my gardening career has 

 been the last six years' experimenting with Potatos. I should like to add 

 that I most fully value and appreciate the award given by the Royal 

 Horticultural Society to our exhibit in this hall in November last. 



There is no reason why this system should not be of value to large 

 growers for market, according to their discretion. There are times when 

 the supply of old Potatos is greater than the demand, some "growers 

 having a lot on hand when the public are tired of them. Instead of being 

 a dead loss, they could be treated as described and put on the market as 

 new ones — or rather those resulting from them. There would not be the 

 same bulk, of course, but the price they would realise would well repay for 

 the extra keeping and prevent the waste of a well-earned crop. What 

 would perhaps be better still would be to create a fresh market by keeping 

 them till August, and then bringing them along as described and selling 

 them as retarded tubers. Experiments have proved to me many other 

 possibilities, but they are not yet sufficiently worked out to detail them 

 here. 



The knowledge that young Potatos can be formed out of old ones has 

 been known to keen observers of them ever since their first cultivation, 

 but the idea of working out a regular system by which good crops may be 



