THE AMATEUR’S KITCHEN GARDEN. 
253 
are all adapted for forcing. If restricted to two varieties, 
should prefer Alpha and Veitclis Ashleaf. The sets selected 
should be about the size of a bantam’s egg, and not at all or 
very little sprouted. They should be placed in shallow boxes, 
be lightly sprinkled with water and put on a shelf in a warm 
house, full in the light, the temperature to be about 50 degs. 
In the course of a week they should be looked over and every 
sprout except the best at the nose-end to be rubbed off. They 
should be again packed in the shallow boxes only one layer 
deep and with all the nose-ends upwards to encourage the' 
growth of one stout, short sprout to each. They must be 
regularly sprinkled with water, but only enough to keep them 
slightly damp to nourish the sprouts and prevent shrivelling. 
At the turn of the year they should be potted in 48-size, 
in light, rich compost, each set to be covered with quite an 
inch of soil to encourage the roots that come out from the 
base of the sprout. They should now be put in a tempera- 
ture of 60 degs. by day and 50 degs. by night. The watering 
is a delicate business, and you must take care they do not 
obtain too much, and, as a matter of course, the water should 
be of the same temperature as the house. If kept near the 
glass and judiciously ventilated so that they are never punish- 
ed by cold currents of air passing over them, the haulm will 
be healthy and short-jointed. If it is not so you must not 
hope for a handsome dish of potatoes, for everything depends 
on ensuring a healthy leaf-growth from the very first. 
In due time the pots will be full of roots and the plants will 
be handsome little bushes. They must now be carefully shift- 
ed into 8-inch or 10-inch pots, and be put low down in the 
pots because the tubers will be formed in a cluster above the 
set. A series of shifts from size to size will never do, as one 
alone is allowable, and this should be to pots sufficiently large 
for the crop to finish in, or to beds prepared for the purpose 
and likely to maintain a sufficient temperature for a sufficient 
length of time. This shift completed, the heat must be raised 
to 70 degs. by day and 60 degs. by night, the supply of water 
be increased and a constant change of air must be secured by 
very careful ventilation, the air being made to pass over a 
warm surface before reaching the potatoes. The watering is 
still a delicate business, and a drop too much will be as harm- 
ful as a similar excess in another way. They must stand very 
close to the glass and precautions must be taken to avert 
