Farm  Prize  Competition , 1910.  2411 
The  difficulty  about  early  potato  growing  is  to  get  “ weight  ” 
with  the  first  consignment ; however,  the  price  obtained  for 
the  early  consignments  is  so  much  higher  that  the  sacrifice  in 
weight  is  fully  recompensed. 
The  boxing  system  of  raising  seed  potatoes  is  pursued  in 
lofts  set  apart  for  the  purpose.  There  are  here  about  5,000 
boxes,  stacked  in  lots  of  twelve,  one  upon  another.  These 
boxes  are  regularly  moved,  so  that  the  sprouting  of  the  seed 
potatoes  may  be  equal.  Ventilation  is  an  important  point,  in 
order  that  a current  of  air  shall  pass  through  the  loft.  The 
boxing  system  entails  a heavy  initial  outlay,  but,  with  reasonable 
care,  the  boxes  should  last  for  a long  time.  The  smallest  tubers 
are  used  for  the  earliest  crops,  the  next  size  for  the  second 
earliest  crops,  and  the  largest  for  the  main  crops.  The  object 
should  be  to  secure  from  the  smaller  seed  two  or  three  well- 
grown  tubers  per  root,  rather  than  a number  of  small  ones,  as 
it  is  very  important  in  the  first  “ earlies  ” to  have  as  many 
potatoes  of  marketable  size  as  possible.  The  varieties  of  first 
“earlies”  grown  are  Ninetyfolds,  Epicures,  Sutton’s  'Early 
Regent,  and  New  Century  ; for  second  “ earlies,”  British 
Queen,  and  for  the  main  crop,  Up-to-Date.  This  season  the 
early  varieties  are  rather  less  than  usual  in  their  acreage. 
From  June  17  to  21  is  the  time  when  the  first  lots  are  ready 
to  be  lifted,  and  these  are  sent  off  to  the  Lancashire  markets. 
Planting  generally  begins  about  the  third  week  in  March, 
depending  upon  the  condition  of  the  soil  and  the  weather, 
and  is  usually  completed  in  a month.  The  main-crop  sets 
are  frequently  planted  between  the  drills  of  the  earlier 
varieties,  so  that  when  the  “earlies”  are  removed  the  main 
crops  have  become  well-established  plants,  which  quickly  go 
ahead  under  the  more  favourable  conditions  of  air,  soil,  and 
space,  due  to  the  removal  of  the  “ earlies.” 
Two  hundred  and  twenty  thousand  ox  cabbages  are  planted 
for  the  dairy  stock,  on  about  40  acres,  between  the  potato  drills, 
so  that  they  get  a good  start  before  they  are  earthed  round  by 
the  mould  coming  from  the  potato  rows,  when  tbe  latter  are 
lifted.  The  remaining  potato  ground  is  sown  with  catch  crops, 
turnips,  rape,  mustard,  &c. 
The  holes  for  the  potatoes  to  be  placed  in  are  made  by 
machines  in  two  drills  at  once,  12  in.,  15  in.,  or  18  in.  apart, 
according  to  the  size  of  the  tubers  to  be  used.  The  single 
drills  are  2ti  in.  apart,  and  the  double  drills  from  32  in.  to 
34  in.,  the  latter,  of  course,  being  those  in  which  another  crop 
is  sprouting  while  the  first  is  maturing. 
The  manure  applied  for  the  potato  crop  consists  of,  per 
acre  : 20  tons  of  farmyard  manure  in  the  spring,  \ cwt.  of 
sulphate  of  ammonia,  § cwt.  of  sulphate  of  potash,  3 cwt.  of 
