92 
POTATOES. 
(vicia saliva,) and with it five or six more species, which 
are natives; also the different varieties of beans and 
pease, which are but different families of the same 
tribe, and though originally exotics, are now natu¬ 
ralized. The ervum, or tare tribe, includes two native 
species, the smooth podded and rough podded, both 
terrible weeds when abundant in corn ; the seeds are 
generally four in a pod, but sometimes more, the lentil 
(ervum lens) is of this genus. 
Potatoes. This excellent vegetable seems to be eh- 
tircly got clear of the curl, no appearance of it to be 
seen in the crop, nor complaints heard of it in conver¬ 
sation ; the cure of the disorder has been radically 
effected by rejecting the old sorts, worn out or dege¬ 
nerated, enfeebled or debilitated, (according to Dr. 
Darwin) by repetition of solitary reproduction from 
sets or cuttings, but now restored and renovated by 
the introduction of invigorated varieties, raised by 
sexual reproduction from the flowers and seed vessels; 
the time of planting potatoes is March, April, May, 
and some in June. 
Potatoes are grown in great plenty and perfection in 
this count}', and in a variety of ways, both by hand 
work, and the plough. In the neighbourhood of Broms- 
grove and elsewhere, are large field plots, well-ma¬ 
naged and kept clean; and the present year, 1807, 
nothing can be more promising for a crop. 
Mr. Richard Miller, upon Brant Hall Farm, prefers 
the following; method: after well working and ma- 
o o 
nuring the land, it being harrowed down level, to 
strike furrows with a common plough about two feet 
asunder, then to drop in the sets by hand, and cover 
them slightly with a hoe or rake, and as they shoot, 
horse-hoe them with a plough, turning a furrow either 
' way, 
