THE AMATEUR’S KITCHEN GARDEN. 
129 
be rendered as certain and profitable as sorts, soils, and 
seasons will allow. As a rule, the potato is a profitable plant. 
By good culture on a good soil, aided by a good season, we 
may expect to lift ten to twelve tons from an acre of ground, 
and we have known the crop to amount to over twenty tons. As 
a rule, eight tons may be reckoned on from a good deep well- 
drained loam by the roughest method of procedure ; the value 
of the crop at £5 per ton will be £40, which will generally 
afford a liberal margin of profit after rent, labour, and manure 
have been paid for. In the American potato trial of 1874, 
the produce of a quarter of an acre of Compton's Surprise 
was reported to be 7,350 lbs., which is equivalent to 490 
bushels, or over 10 tons, per acre ; and of Brownell's Beauty , 
8,899 lbs., equivalent to 594 bushels, or 14-4 tons, per acre. 
But these were not the highest yields known to the com- 
mittee by whom the prizes were awarded, and they expressed 
their regret that those who obtained these larger yields re- 
frained from entering into the competition. 
The Soil for potatoes should in any case be open to the 
sun, thoroughly well dug, and in good heart. Drainage is 
not of great consequence, because the crop occupies the 
ground only during those months when wat.r in the soil is 
rather beneficial than otherwise ; but, as a well-drained soil 
is warmer than one water-logged, drain-age must be voted for 
as at least desirable. As to the kinds of soil, a sandy fertile 
loam is certainly to be preferred, but the potato will make a 
fair return in any soil, whether loam, or clay, or peat, or 
dusty sha e, or starving limestone, or roasting chalk. The 
plant is the product for the most part of the sunshine, and as 
a rule, the measure of the sunshine is the measure of the 
crop. But, as no one can live on love, so the potato needs 
something in the shape of food in addition to sunshine. It 
takes a large amount of mineral matter from the soil, for in 
one ton of tubers there are 11 lbs. of potash, 1 lb. of soda, 
1 lb. of lime, 1 lb. of magnesia, 4 lbs. of sulphuric acid, and 
2 lbs. phosphoric acid. It is evident that alkaline and phos- 
phatic manures will suit the potato if the ground is poor, and, 
of all minerals,, it stands most in need of potash. As a rule, 
the best possible manure for this crop is good farmyard dung, 
which may be dug in when the ground is made ready, or may 
be laid at the bottom of the trench when the sets are planted. 
It is very commonly believed that the use of manure is in- 
