380 Agriculture of the Scillij Isles. 
Soon after the plants appear above ground the eartli is drawn 
round them with the hoe. The land is then kept thoroughly 
clean by horse and hand hoeing till harvest. 
The general harvest of early potatoes is in the beginning of 
!May, though in forward seasons it takes place in April. They 
are usually dug. When ploughed the horse hoe is afterwards 
passed through the land. 
The potatoes are harvested before coming to maturity, that 
they may be sent to market as soon as possible. Farmers con- 
sider 5 tons per acre a good yield. In the spring of 1869 the 
plants, which gave promise of an early and abundant crop, were 
almost destroyed by a violent gale. In some parts the wind blew 
the young shoots completely out of the ground. The potato 
disease also is often very destructive. Early potatoes are sent to 
London, Birmingham, and Manchester, in baskets of 1 cwt. each. 
The trade with London has not been so good of late years. 
Manchester is now said to be the best early market. 16Z. to 20Z. 
per ton is considered a good price, but Is. Gcf. per lb. is some- 
times received for a few baskets, and 2s. Gd. per lb. lias been 
realised in Covent Garden. When the price falls to 121. per 
ton, they are shipped in bulk to South Wales, where, however, 
the Jersey growers soon compete successfully. 
The cost of carriage to London is 8s. 4d. per cwt.; to Birming- 
ham 4s. per cwt, ; to Manchester 5s. per cwt. ; and to South 
Wales Is. per cwt. Salesmen charge a commission of 7J per 
cent, on the price obtained. 
Walter White, who visited Scilly in July, 1854, gives the 
following account of the trade in early potatoes: — 
" A young man of Hugh Town (St. Mary's) told me that he 
had the weighing of all the potatoes shipped from the port. 
London is the best market ; 15,000 baskets had been sent away 
since the commencement of the season, the last cargo on the 
previous Saturday. A Scilly pilot-boat carries 300 baskets, 
each containing 1 cwt. of potatoes, to Southampton for Is. the 
basket. From Southampton they are forwarded to Covent 
Garden; and as some of the earliest parcels in February realise 
Is. per lb., on the average, there remains a handsome profit. ' But 
the price gets lower every week,' said my informant ; ' and some- 
times, about midsummer, all that a man gets in return for a 
dozen baskets is a dozen postage stamps in a letter. We think 
it time to stop then.' The year had been one of the best for 
potatoes ever known in Scilly. In 1853 the people of St. Martin's 
got 2000/. for their crop, the potatoes of that isle being consi- 
dered the hest. . . . The young merchant went on to tell 
me of the origin of the potatoe trade. About fifteen years ago his 
father, Alexander Gibson, when off the Isles with the quarantine 
