138 
THE AMATEUR’S KITCHEN GARDEN. 
to account for early crops of Ashleaf Champion, Myatts , and 
the old Walnut Leaf. The soil must be light and dry and 
well prepared. There should be in readiness plenty of 
charcoal and burnt earth from a garden smother, and, if 
possible, also plenty of rough lime rubbish. Plant well- 
sprouted sets as early in February as weather will permit. In 
planting, open trenches one foot deep and eighteen inches 
apart ; put into the trenches six inches of hot dung, and over 
that lay two inches of earth. Then put down the sets six to 
nine inches apart, and cover with two or three inches of soil. 
In the course of a fortnight or so spread over the rows two or 
three inches of a mixture of the charrings and lime rubbish 
from which bits of lath and brickbats have been removed. 
When the shoots begin to push through, give them a final 
moulding up, first drawing an inch or two of fine earth to the 
haulm to comfort it. As soon as you have cauliflower or 
broccoli or collard plants large enough to put out, dib them in 
between the rows. You will be able to dig new potatoes in 
June, and, to do justice to the cauliflower or cabbage crop, 
the potatoes must be cleared off as soon as possible. 
The Selection of Sorts must be regulated by the require- 
ments of the planter and also by the taste of the household. 
A working man taught us a lesson in selecting that we might 
never have learnt otherwise. He asked us to start him in 
potato-growing with half a dozen good sorts. So we looked 
him out about a peck of each of Late Lose, Paterson’s 
Victoria, King of Potatoes, Scotch Blue, Dunbar Regent, and 
Model. At the end of the season we asked him how the 
potatoes turned out. He said he had lifted splendid crops, 
but he was obliged to sell them, for they were all floury 
potatoes, and he and his family could only eat waxy ones. It 
must be a puzzle to potato-fanciers to observe how. sorts re- 
garded by them as objectionable obtain and maintain exten- 
sive popularity, especially in the country. The reason must 
be in part because the inferior sorts are preferred; but another 
reason comes into force, for many cottagers will grow any 
potato that is likely to yield a large crop, without any regard 
whatever to quality, 
All the Ashleaf and Lapstone types are more or less yellow- 
fleshed and extremely rich in flavour, especially towards the 
close of the winter. The Regent type are mostly white and 
mealy, and the true old Yorkshire Regent is so exceedingly 
