THE POTATO AND ITS CULTURE. 
i27 
present disease or murrain; but very few 
ideas were given that had not already 
appeared in the " Gardener's Gazette," and 
already been largely acted upon. Nevertheless, 
there is a mode pointed out which has evi- 
dently been taken from that recommended 
for common Dahlias years ago. It is advised 
that the Potatoes should be placed crowns 
upward in warm dung, with a coat of loam 
on it ; that four inches of earth or peat should 
be covered over them, then another layer, then 
four inches more earth, and so on, till there is a 
heap three or more feet in depth. When these 
have grown, they are taken out and cut 
into ten or twelve sets each, there being only 
one eye to each piece of tuber. He says he 
has planted such sets several feet grown, and 
had a capital crop ; but let us ask who in the 
world would think of such a mode on a large 
scale ? and what object is gained by such an 
inconvenient proceeding ? Why, the author 
says he gets the crop earlier by a week or two ; 
but we think scarcely anything would make 
amends for so loose, and awkward, and trouble- 
some a mode of accomplishing an object. The 
merely being enabled to cut the sets into 
smaller pieces, and confining each piece to one 
eye, does not compensate at all, because the 
same object could be effected in a less trouble- 
some manner ; for instance, if all the Potatoes 
were placed on a dung-bed till the eyes fairly 
started, they could be cut up as well as if there 
were six inches of haulm to every eye, and all 
of them would be much easier planted. But 
we do not approve of sets being limited to one 
eye ; two or three are better ; and a whole 
Potato, if it has. room, and is well earthed up, 
at proper seasons, is always better than a set. 
We know it has been said that small Potatoes 
bring a number of small stems, and a small 
ci'op. This may apply to the smallest of all; but 
the eyes in a Potato which is as large as a 
walnut for pickling, will be found as well 
developed, and the haulm as strong, and the 
crop as fine, as any from the largest tubers cut 
up. This, however, is so much more fre- 
quently decided by the state of the ground 
and of the sets, than by anything connected 
with the size of the seed Potatoes, that it is 
not worth pursuing the subject. In garden 
culture there are many ways of planting, to 
say nothing of the sets. For early Potatoes 
there are several modes of proceeding without 
involving much expense. One of the most 
simple is to dig a trench at the foot of a 
south wall, or fence, or bank, say a foot 
and a half deep, fill this with hot stable dung, 
and when trod down there will be six inches to 
spare ; let this be earthed about two inches, 
the sets placed a foot apart along the centre, 
and fill up level with the earth. If they 
come up before the frosts are over, let there 
be mats thrown over them on an evening ; 
earth up the crop, and if the weather be very 
dry, there must bo water administered from 
time to time. This crop will be found very 
early, the Potatoes being developed before the 
haulm would indicate their forwardness. Next 
to this, the planting of the Potatoes in the same 
way, but without dung, will be found advan- 
tageous ; the south wall wonderfully aiding 
the germination and future growth; but the 
crop is never large unless watered, and it is 
far better not to cool them too much, a small 
and early crop being far more desirable than a 
larger and later one. The forcing of Potatoes 
in dung-beds or pits, is done with little or no 
trouble. The bed is made up as for cucumbers 
and melons, but with not more than half the 
quantity of dung. Put three inches of earth on 
the dung, place the sets a foot apart in rows 
eighteen inches from each other, and then put 
three inches of soil over them. Here the 
principal object is to give air without losing 
much heat, and not to give much water ; 
when they are up, let them be earthed by 
putting some additional soil along the rows on 
each side, and not by disturbing that which 
is already level on the bed. The principal 
thing to guard against is frost, and unless it 
be through carelessness this is not likely to 
reach the tops. This crop will be found early 
and useful. 
A very nice crop of Potatoes may be 
hastened by planting them in an old melon 
bed or cucumber frame, and the only requisite 
there is to provide, is a supply of matting, or 
other covering, to keep off the frost, which 
would be fatal. Air must be given on mild 
days, and the frames closed against cold winds, 
even when short of a frost. Of late years 
many tons of Potatoes have been planted in 
July, to take up in November, and use all the 
winter and spring as new Potatoes. The Ash- 
leaf Kidney, and many other early sorts, have 
been tried ; but the kind found to answer the 
most completely is Chapman's Early Kidney ; 
these are eatable, and in high perfection, from 
November till June. Some persons, who have 
ground that is clean, and pure, and free from 
insects, heap up a bank of soil on the rows, 
and dig up the Potatoes only as they want 
them ; but in some ground they would be 
devoured by insects. We consider it better, on 
the whole, to dig them up, and pit them the 
usual way; but, for private families, it is better 
to make several small heaps than one long pit, 
because, when once open, and the air let in, 
the skins become hard instead of tender. It 
is the better way to let the heaps be about a 
bushel each, and mix up the soil with the 
Potatoes, to exclude the air ; heap them up 
like a cone, cover with three or four inches of 
straw, and three inches of earth over that. 
