The Cultivation of Vegetables 57 
soil as the digging proceeds. The line is then brought 
forward and similar operations repeated. Now this 
method would be very good if the manure were dug in, 
so that the potatoes did not come in direct contact with 
it. In this method you have no treading on the soil to 
make it too firm. The air is enabled to get to the roots, 
and the young tubers have a good chance to grow. By 
the time the plants appear above the soil the weeds will 
also be growing, therefore the hoe will require to be kept 
oroing to kill them and also to aerate the soil. Before 
the stems, or haulms, have grown too large they must be 
earthed up, otherwise considerable damage may be done 
with the handle of the hoe. Care must be exercised to 
leave a sufficient distance between the rows to allow of 
a good “earthing up ”. If sufficient soil is not drawn 
round the base of the stems the young tubers will grow 
outside the soil, and consequently turn green from ex- 
posure to the light and sun, and therefore unfit for food. 
Another method of planting is with the spade. After 
the ground has been dug and manured, the line is set 
and a spadeful of soil lifted out. The potato is then 
put in and the soil replaced on the top of it. This is 
not a good method, as in all probability the potatoes will 
be planted at varying depths. 
The dibber, too, is frequently used for planting pota- 
toes, but, though a quick and easy method of planting, 
it should not be used unless it is absolutely necessary to 
economize time. To begin with, the tubers may be 
planted at different depths. This may be prevented by 
placing a cross bar on the dibber to prevent it going too 
deeply into the soil. But in pushing the dibber into 
