THE IDEAL POTATO. 



99 



whether the tubers taken thus unripe were vigorous or not. In the 

 autumn of 1904 I paid a visit to the Fifeshire potato farms of Mr. A. 

 Findlay, and in walking through his stores my attention was arrested by 

 the rubbed skins of his stocks. The great raiser at once cheerfully 

 admitted being an advocate of unripe seed. His belief in it was and is 

 profound. Potatoes are generally planted later in Scotland than in 

 England ; the cool, humid climate keeps them growing longer ; and thus 

 it is that they are frequently green when frost comes and blackens them 

 as it does our dahlias. The acknowledged superiority of Scottish seed 

 may not be wholly due to its comparative unripeness, but I am convinced 

 that immaturity is partly the cause. 



Why, too, should any refuse be thought large enough for seed ? A 

 large tuber planted whole with eyes (or subsequent shoots) unthinned 

 may not always crop well, because frequently overcrowding follows ; but 

 a large tuber of which the eyes or growing shoots are reduced, so that no 

 overcrowding is possible, and of which all the energies are concentrated 

 on a few shoots, is invariably productive. 



It may be asked : "What is the choice as between small tubers with 

 several small eyes, and a portion of a large tuber with one or two large 

 eyes ? My experience teaches me that the latter is the better if the seed is 

 properly treated, and is seared with lime to prevent loss of sap and to 

 keep off insect attacks. But " ware " tubers that have been devitalised in 

 a clamp are in a different class. It is only right to add that certain 

 varieties do not bear cutting very well in any case, but they are few. I 

 have cut a great many sorts during the last few years, and I can only 

 think of two which have actively resented it : they are ' Conquest ' and 

 ' Sir John Llewelyn.' Round varieties generally bear cutting better 

 than kidney. In any case of doubt it should be remembered that well- 

 prepared, sprouted whole seed, of about two ounces in weight, is a good 

 standard. 



Single-eye propagation is obscured under a heavy cloud as a result of 

 the disastrous effects which have resulted from it during the past year or 

 two. I see no particular reason for trying to resuscitate it ; at the same 

 time, the failure of speculators who have rushed into potato propagation 

 without the slightest experience does not prove that skilled horticultural 

 propagators do not know perfectly well how to raise large stocks of 

 healthy potatoes from single eyes. 



My next cultural point is manuring. The chief thing to recognise is 

 that for early crops "yard manure" should preponderate, and for late 

 ones " chemical." Yet this is overlooked. For all seasons I believe in 

 a blend of both. In this potash-mad age it sounds heretical to question 

 the efficacy of kainit, yet unsupported by superphosphate it has given me 

 poor results. To have any material value it must be used in autumn or 

 early winter. My ideal dressing is yard manure under the top spit at the 

 rate of two barrowloads per square rod, and a mixture of superphosphate, 

 steamed bone flour and sulphate of potash, [in the proportion of 4 lb., 1 lb., 

 and 2 lb. per square rod. The yard manure is laid in in autumn or early 

 winter, the "chemicals" in late winter. If the furrows are made and 

 the fertiliser laid in some weeks in advance of planting, the soil becomes 

 well sweetened and fertilised. 



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