THE GARDENING WORLD. 
303 
flew Potatos for Christmas 
7 
New Potatos at Christmas are well 
within the reach of everyone, even though 
no greenhouse or cold frame is owned. 
All that is required is a frost-proof room, 
or even shed, and a small stock of large, 
sound old tubers. Diseased tubers are 
useless, and any that have been stabbed 
by the fork at lifting time should also be 
rejected. 
To make a start, either purchase, or se¬ 
lect from the stock of old eating tubers, 
a dozen or so good specimens. A dozen 
large tubers, weighing about 6 ozs. or 
8 ozs. each, will give sufficient new Potatos 
to serve about six people for dinner, 
though something will depend upon 
appetite. My own stock of tubers reserved 
for giving new Potatos at Christmas aver¬ 
age nearly 1 lb. each, one giant weighing 
1 y 2 lbs.; but they were specially selected 
for the purpose at lifting time. If tubers 
of 8 oz. each can be obtained, several 
excellent new Potatos may be got from 
each. The tubers shrivel very much dur¬ 
ing the summer, hence the need of start¬ 
ing with big ones. 
Briefly, the whole modus operandi of 
Christmas new Potato growing is selecting 
good, sound and large tubers, keeping 
these in a fairly -dry place, rubbing off 
all shoots as they appear, and packing 
the tubers away in soil about six weeks 
to two months before new Potatos are 
wanted. The thing is simplicity itself 
and within the reach of all. And now 
for details. 
At the present time the tubers should 
be stood out, just clear of each other, 
near a window in a spare room or shed ; 
if the latter, it should not be too damp, 
or the tubers may rot. Wherever the 
tubers have been before now, and whoever 
has kept them, it is safe to assume that 
they have already grown at least one 
batch of shoots or sprouts, and had them 
removed. But other shoots will follow, 
as each Potato “eye” generally contains 
several latent buds. A watch should be 
kept for these shoots, and they should be 
rubbed off as they show-, otherwise the 
tubers will be weakened. This removal 
of shoots will, however, give little trouble, 
and probablv shoot production will cease 
altogether before August. 
Should the tubers shrivel much they 
should be removed to a cooler, moister 
place—my own do best in June, July, and 
August in a wood shed which is shaded by 
a large tree. Here they stay until Octo¬ 
ber, when the first batch is put into the 
way of producing young ones. The batch 
which gives the Christmas supply is started 
at the middle of October, but six weeks is 
sufficient time to allow when the tubers 
are kept in an indoor warm .room. 
A condensed milk box is an excellent 
receptacle for the tubers at starting time. 
On the bottom of this a layer of leaf 
mould, cocoanut fibre refuse, or even fine 
and fairly dry garden soil is spread to the 
depth of an inch. On this the old tubers 
are arranged in a single tier, allowing a 
clear space of 6 in. between them; they 
-- x 
Now is the Time . , 
. . . To Start Them. 
should also be kept at least 2 in. away 
from the sides of the 'box. Over the 
layer of Potatos another layer of leaf 
mould is spread, then another lot of 
Potatos, and so on until the box is full; 
the final layer should be of leaf mould, 
and the layers between the tubers should 
be 2 in. in depth. 
There need be no fuither covering of 
the box, and no water should be given, 
care having been taken that the leaf 
mould or soil used was moist without 
being wet. The best place to stand the 
box will vary with convenience. In a 
kitchen cupboard, stood on the floor 
boards, I have found a good place when 
early crops were wanted, new Potatos 
being obtainable in about a month from 
such a position. There is, however, a 
danger of the soil becoming too dry, and 
this would stop production. 
Taking all things into consideration, 
perhaps the best average place in a house 
is on the tiled floor of a larder, that is 
if the place is frost-proof. Here about 
two months would probably - elapse before 
Potatos large enough to eat were formed, 
but as a start can safely be made at the 
end of September there need be no fear 
of the crop not being in time for the 
Christmas dinner. The young Potatos 
are simply produced at the expense of the 
substance of the old ones, neither shoots, 
leaves, nor roots being formed. To 
gather the crop, scrape away the soil, and 
lift out the old tuber with its crop of 
young ones. Up-to-date is one of the 
best varieties for this purpose. 
Silver Sand. 
- 
Odontoglossum ardentissimum Herbert God¬ 
son. 
We have now got a considerable num¬ 
ber of varieties of the ardentissimum type 
characterised by numerous blotches on 
the sepals and petals. The flowers of 
this variety are nearly round, with short 
and broad sepals and petals heavily 
blotched with maroon-crimson. First- 
class Certificate to H. S. Gordon, Esq. 
(gardener, Mr. G. Day), West Hill, Put¬ 
ney, by the R.H.S., on 16th April. 
-♦+>- 
The Starry- 
Magnolia. 
(Magnolia stellata). 
Several of the Magnolias are well fitted 
for planting in small gardens, but none 
more so than, this, as-it is one of the 
dwarfest and most easily accommodated 
where space is limited. It is also the 
earliest to flower, coming into bloom in 
March or April, according to the mildness 
of the weather preceding that time. The 
flowers consist of numerous long, narrow- 
petals, giving the flowers a starry appear¬ 
ance. and in this respect it differs from 
most other Magnolias which have fewer 
and broader petals mostly arranged in the 
form of a cup. In this case the petals 
Magnolia stellata. 
Maclaren and. Sons. 
