478 
Tlie Sources of Suppli/ of the 
and bestowed upon their production ; they are kept indoors till 
they have sprouted, and then are carefully planted in " butts," 
over which straw-mats are laid during the night and on cold 
days, to shield them from the frost. These supplies are followed 
by those grown on both banks of the River Mersey, chiefly 
between Warrington and Barton. Vast quantities of excellent 
late potatoes are also received from North-west Lancashire ; in- 
deed, it may be said that the county in which the tuber was first 
grown, after its introduction into England, has never since 
shown it any neglect. The once-popular " Fluke " potato was 
raised from seed by John Turner, a labourer on the Langley 
Hall Farm, at Birch, near Middleton : it has now fallen quite 
out of favour, and is but sparsely grown. 
All through the winter large quantities of potatoes are received 
from Yorkshire, from Lincolnshire, and from Scotland ; most of 
these are those known as the " York Regent," than which no 
better late potato need be grown. I have no means of ascer- 
taining the quantity of potatoes brought into Manchester in 
a year ; but as all the populous towns by which it is sur- 
rounded draw their supplies from it, the total quantity must be 
immense. 
Beside the great Fruit and Vegetable Market at Shude Hill, 
there is an extensive potato market on the premises of the 
Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Company, in Oldham Road; 
this market is in the hands of the Railway Company, who pay 
the Corporation 1500/. per annum for the privilege of holding 
it. Under the agreement, potatoes and carrots only are per- 
mitted to be sold there, and none but those which arrive by the 
Company's line. 
The largest quantity of new potatoes brought into the market 
at Shude Hill in one week, from 1870 to 1879, inclusive, has 
been as follows : — 
Loads of 18-Stone. 
1870. 1871. 1872. 1873. 1874. 
21,000 29,500 18,200 19,100 18,750 
1875. 1876. 1877. 1878. 1879. 
18,500 19,000 14,300 23,000 22,250 
That the home-grower of this popular and useful article of 
food has not a monopoly of its growth, however, the fol- 
lowing figures will testify ; they are copied from the Govern- 
ment Return for 1877. I have been unable to procure last 
year's Return, but I believe the quantity to have been greatly 
in excess of that in 1877. I learn from a private source 
that the quantity shipped from Hamburg alone, last year, was 
4,592,270 cwts. : 
