432 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
March 7, 1896. 
POTATOS FOR THE GARDEN. 
It is a great advantage to gardeners to be able to 
make a trial of the newer introductions of vegetables 
before attempting to rely on them entirely for a 
supply; for, though they are sent out in good faith by 
the raisers, the variations in our climate are so great, 
therefore the conditions under which the crops are 
grown are so different, that unless gardeners in many 
instances test such things for themselves, it is not 
easy to form a correct opinion of theirrelative merits. 
Potatos are a great annoyance to many, there being 
such a number of new varieties sent out each season 
by different firms, that one is puzzled to find room to 
give them all a trial, and unless this is done, it is 
impossible to say which is best for any particular 
district, or for general or special purposes. As a 
rule, those tubers seen at shows are no criterion to 
go by, being specially selected, it may be, from a very 
large bulk. 
The chief qualities of a good Potato are that it 
should be white and floury when boiled, a good 
cropper, of first-class flavour, disease-resisting, with 
evenness of size, and having shallow eyes. It is very 
seldom that we find all these in one tuber, though 
there are some which come fairly well up to the 
standard. The old Snowflake is of beautiful colour 
and shape, but then it is so very tender that in many 
seasons two out of three tubers would be affected by 
the disease. There are many other varieties of 
similar character. Doubtless, soil has much to do 
with the quality of Potatos, and those grown on rich 
heavy land are usually the worst. 
In making a selection for the kitchen garden, twelve 
varieties are enough. These are as many or even more 
than most places can find room to accommodate, as 
but few plant the later kinds there, preference beiDg 
given to other crops. There are, however, some 
gardens where room can be found to grow a 
sufficient quantity to give a supply the whole year 
round ; and where this is the case we would divide 
them under three headings, namely, early, second 
early, and late. Of the first it will only be necessary 
to plant sufficient to give a supply till the second 
earlies are ready to lift; therefore, it is not necessary 
to plant many varieties in this section. 
Everyone will no doubt say that the Ashleaf 
should take first place, but there are drawbacks even 
to this. Though the quality in most instances is 
good, the colour is objected to by many. This, 
however, is not of so much consequence if the tubers 
are used when young. The Ashleaf, moreover, 
requires rich ground—in fact, the soil cannot well be 
too fertile. When treated liberally in this respect, 
we have grown it at the rate of sixteen tons per 
acre. Sharpe’s Victor is a good-coloured, first early 
kind, of excellent flavour, but a great drawback to 
its usefulness is its delicate constitution ; for often, 
if the season be showery, half the tubers are useless. 
Sutton’s Ringleader is one of the best that we have 
tried in this class. It is rather a stronger grower than 
the Ash’eaf, and the tubers are better in colour. 
Second earlies of first-rate quality are more 
numerous. Amongst these I should have no hesita¬ 
tion in placing Supreme at the head of this list, as it 
nearly comes up to the standard of perfection. The 
tubers are of even shape, shallow-eyed, of splendid 
flavour, producing heavy crops, and disease resisting. 
It was sent out by Messrs. Sutton & Sons some few 
years ago. Next to this comes Windsor Castle, 
Beauty of Hebron and Perfection. 
Of late kinds, I have not seen or tried anything 
equal to the Sutton Flourball. This is a new intro¬ 
duction by the firm whose name it bears, and is all 
that could be desired in a Potato. The enormous 
crop surpasses anything that has ever come under 
my notice. We sometimes read of fabulous weights 
being grown from, say, 7 lbs. of seed, but it must be 
taken into consideration that such is the produce under 
conditions that but few can undertake the work; 
for the tubers are started in heat and, as growth is 
made, the cuttings are taken off and rooted in the 
same way as Dahlias, when, after being grown in 
pots for a time, they are planted out in the open 
ground. But taking a crop from a given piece of 
ground is another thing. Last season this variety 
produced with me at the rate of 31 tons 14 cwts per 
acre. Taking it all round it is one of the best ever 
introduced. The Garton is also a good late Potato, 
quality excellent, but the crop is not heavy. The 
same may be said of Schoolmaster. Triumph 
(Sutton’s) is one of the best-flavoured late Potatos yet 
introduced. It is something after the stamp of the 
old Fluke in shape, but a much better cropper. 
In conclusion, let me say a few words about the 
preparation of the sets. Do not on any account 
allow a growth to be made before it is time to plant, 
for if this happens, and it has to be rubbed off, the 
crop will never be so large, no matter what pains are 
taken with the cultivation. On heavy soils it is 
also a matter of the first importance that planting be 
done as near the surface as possible, and that a greater 
distance be allowed between the rows than is usually 
done on light soils. Instead of planting 27 in. apart, 
which is the orthodox distance, allow 3 ft. between the 
rows. It will then be found that there is a greater 
amount of earth for covering the tubers, and more 
chance of them being kept dry during a wet season. 
— II. C. Prinsep. 
-- 
WIDE VERSUS CLOSE PLANTING. 
This item in the cultural programme of the Potato 
is one of great importance—so much so, in fact, that 
it is well worthy of special consideration. In these 
days of keen competition and cutting prices, the 
utmost has to be got out of every rood of ground if 
the crops are to pay the expenses of labour, carriage, 
etc., and leave a margin to the credit of the culti¬ 
vator. Now, an inch more or less between the sets 
in the rows, and the rows themselves, mounts up 
" pretty considerable,” as the Yankee would say, in a 
plantation of several acres ; the crop itself will be 
plus or minus, as the case may be, a large number of 
bushels, and a corresponding difference will be 
observed in the financial returns. Hence it follows 
that the question of giving the sets an extra inch or 
so each way is of great moment. 
On the other hand, the evils of too close planting 
are so many and various that it is almost better to 
err on the side of giving too much room, although it 
entails a partial diminution of the crop, than it is to 
trespass in the direction of allowing too little. 
Potato growers on all hands are appalled at the 
ravages of the all-rapacious Phy tophthora, which in 
the majority of seasons has seriously to be reckoned 
with. Now it is an undoubted fact that too close 
planting is distinctly favourable to the growth and 
spread of disease. In the first place the haulms, 
closely interlacing with each other, exclude the rays 
of the sun, and hold the moisture resulting from any 
shower for a comparatively long time. Now it has 
been successfuly demonstrated over and over again 
that water is an important medium by which the 
spores of the disease distribute themselves. The 
depth of shade, too, is a great aid to the 
mischievous spore which a few seconds’ direct sun¬ 
light will inevitably destroy. Then, again, the over¬ 
crowding of the haulms produces a directly 
pernicious effect upon the constitutions of the plants, 
The green parts of the latter mutually prevent each 
other from enjoying that full share of air and sun¬ 
shine that must fall to their lot if they are to become 
strong enough to resist the disease successfully. It 
follows, therefore, that the aim should be to give 
each plant sufficient room to spread and obtain the 
requisite quantity of air and sunshine. Amongst the 
numerous varieties of Potatos in cultivation, we find 
a vast amount of variation as to strength and vigour 
of habit, and as a natural consequence the space 
accorded them must also exhibit a large range of 
variation. Then again, the object for which the 
crop is being grown has to be considered, whether 
for the production of large tubers for the exhibition 
table or for ordinary consumption only. As much as 
5 ft. between the rows is sometimes allowed strong 
varieties that are being'grown for exhibition, but 
this is an extreme. Broadly speaking, the distance 
between the rows may range from 15 in. for the very 
early dwarf sorts to 40 in. for robust late or main - 
crop varieties. A happy medium between these two 
distances will be 25 in. , and for ordinary requirements 
this should be ample. In like manner the distance 
between the sets varies from 6 in. for the early dwarf 
sorts to 16 in. for the late strong-growing varieties. 
Here again a medium of 12 in. is the most suitable 
for ordinary purposes. 
A report on experiments with Potatos, conducted 
in Warminster and district by the Technical 
Education Committee of the Wilts County Council 
affords some interesting information with regard to 
the comparative merits of wide and close planting. 
Three perches, closely planted, each containing 156 
sets, yielded 715 lbs., which works out at 17 tons to 
the acre. A like number of perches, wide planted, 
and containing each 72 sets, yielded a crop of 637 lbs., 
or 15 tons 2f cwts. to the acre. The gain thus 
accruing from close planting here amounts to 
1 ion 17J cwts. per acre—no inconsiderable 
quantity. It is true that this was during a wet 
season, but the results agree very well with those 
obtained from a comparison during a dry season > 
when the net balance in favour of the shorter 
distance between the sets came out at 1 ton 6 cwts. per 
acre. A perch of land planted with 72 sets would 
allow of 34 in. being allowed between each row, 
and 16 in. between the sets, whilst in a like portion of 
ground containing a larger number—viz., 156 sets— 
about 24 in. between the rows, and 10 in. 
between the sets may be given. The tubers 
resulting from the latter were of fair average 
size and good marketable quality. This is conclusive 
evidence of the fact that a medium distance between 
the sets at planting time is much better than an 
extreme either way, for, if too close planting is con¬ 
ducted, the crop is more liable to the attacks of 
disease as previously intimated, whilst a serious 
diminution in the weight of the crop takes place if 
too much space is allowed. 
--*■- 
THE SUTTON FLOURBALL. 
Many cultivators will remember, even if they do not 
now cultivate, the Red-skin Flourball, which was put 
into commerce twenty-six years ago by Messrs. 
Sutton & Sons, Reading. The variety in question 
came under our notice twenty-one years ago, when 
making a trial of it, as well as Magnum Bonum, on 
a field of heavy clay land. No fault was to be found 
with size, colour and keeping, as well as disease- 
resisting qualities of the variety ; but in the lumpy 
clay soil the large tubers assumed some remarkable 
shapes. The Sutton Flourball now finding its way 
into many gardens is an improvement in every way 
upon the Red-skin Flourball, and an acquisition for 
field culture, inasmuch as it is twice as productive, 
and of superior table quality early in the autumn, 
while the old one was hardly fit for use till spring. 
The tubers are large, round, and the slightly rough 
skin is red, but clear and attractive in appearance; 
they also keep well when pitted for the winter. The 
eyes are relatively very shallow for a Potato of this 
character, as may be seen by the accompanying illus¬ 
tration for which we have to thank Messrs. Sutton & 
Sons for the opportunity of enabling us to place it 
before our readers even at this early period of its 
existence. The wet summer of 1894 put its disease- 
resisting qualities to the test, yet it came through the 
ordeal unharmed, while the well-known Beauty of 
Hebron, alongside of it, was half destroyed by the 
disease. This has been proved after numerous trials 
by various cultivators, and the independent conclu¬ 
sions which they come to, afford ample proof that 
as a maincrop Potato, the Sutton Flourball is 
certain to become very widely disseminated for field 
culture in the course of another year or two. 
MANURING. 
No crop, probably, is more easily grown than the 
Potato, and yet no culture has been more generally 
mismanaged. Many a gardener can call to mind the 
fact of seeing many gardens and plots of ground 
regularly cropped year after year with Potatos and 
fertilised with the same kind of manure which was 
often of the poorest character at best. The 
particular kind of manure need not be mentioned 
here, as it differed in many districts, according to the 
material most readily obtainable. In many cases 
that obtained from the manure heap of the cottager 
was seen to possess a decided advantage over even 
farmyard manure in field culture, owing to the 
mineral ingredients it contained, especially the potash 
contained in ashes from fires where much wood or 
turf had been consumed. Even farmyard manure, in 
the case of garden culture is often distinctly injurious, 
on account of the accumulation of humus in the 
ground. Seeing this, and not recognising the true 
facts of the case, many have come to the conclusion 
that Potatos require no manure at all. 
Now, however, the cultivation, including the 
manuring of Potatos, is daily becoming a science that 
is being more and more understood by the multitude 
at large. Except on very light land, farmyard 
manure should not be employed as a fertiliser for 
this particular crop, on account of its faculty for 
retaining moisture about the tubers, thereby render¬ 
ing the crop particularly liable to disease in wet 
( Continued, on p. 434 .) 
