February, 1910 
THE AUSTRALIAN GARDENER. 
25 
Cultivation of the Potato 
By the Editor of the ‘ Queensland Agri— 
cultural Journal.’ 
(Continued from last Issue.) 
— Raising from Seed. — 
Tam not aware that any attempts have 
been made by Queensland potato-growers 
The 
potato plant flowers freely in this State, 
although the flowers usually drop off 
to raise new varieties from seed. 
before the fruit or ‘apple’ is formed, 
Where, however, the ‘fruit’ as distinct 
from the ‘tuber’ comes to maturity, there 
is no other reason why Australian growers 
should not evolve a_ prolific disease- 
resisting potato equal to some of those 
lately raised from seed in England and 
sold at such enormous prices. A corres- 
pondent of the ‘Agricultural Gazette’ 
London, has, through the inquiry column 
of that journal, elicted the following 
instructions for raising new varieties 
from seed:— 
Those who desire to produce new 
varieties of potatoes must first practise the 
art of cross fertilisation, and must possess 
abundant patience. Like many other 
species which are not habitually multi- 
plied by seed, the potato has a remarkable 
tendency to revert to the wild form. It 
may be necessary to cultivate 100 or even 
1,000 seedlings, before finding one which 
is really worthy of a place among the 
better already existing 
M. Vilmorin says that in France the 
raising of seed potatoes has been proceeded 
varieties 
with in a somewhat haphazard manner ; 
whereas in England, on the other hand, a 
more systematic method has been follow- 
ed. richness in starch, excellent of flavor, 
power of resisting diseaso, with little 
tendency to develop haulm, being the 
characters we on this side of the channel 
generally seek. With regard to cross- 
fertilisation, it is a rather delicate opera- 
tion, and needs time and attention to 
details, Directly the flower begins to 
Open, the anthers must be removed 
Carefully with a pair ot fine-pointed 
scissors. This is necessary to prevent its 
own pollen from falling on the stigma 
and self-fertilising the ovary. Itis well 
also to tie a piece of soft muslin round 
the emasculated flower. 
to examine the flowers of the other 
You have now 
variety which is to act as the male or 
husband. You may have to examine 
dozens of flowers before you will find one 
with its anthers bearing the precious pol- 
len in a powdery form, as some. varieties 
are exceedingly shy pollen-bearers, owing 
to the energies of the plant being occu- 
pied in producing tubers at the expense 
of full development of its 
attributes. When you find the pollen. 
dust, collect it on the point of a clean, 
dry camel-hair brush, and gently brush 
it on the point of the stigma or female 
organ that you have previously protected 
You must, however, 
masculine 
by means of muslin. 
not do this prematurely, but wait till you 
osberve the point of the stigma covered 
with a viscous-looking fluid. Then and 
then only, the stigma is ready for the 
Do not 
serve to 
nuptial rites to be performed. 
this will 
prevent the berry when ripe from falling 
and scattering its precious seeds. It will 
easily be ascertained when the berry is 
ripe, and then the latter should be 
gathered, placed in a box in a room to 
to become thoroughly dry, after which 
remove the seeds, place them in a packet, 
and store them away safely till spring 
But, when the seed has been saved after 
much pains and- trouble, it will require 
some humoring when it is time to sow. 
Then the seeds should be sown in pans or 
shallow boxes 3 in. deep, containing an 
inch of drainage, then a layer of moss, 
and sufficient compost, equal parts of 
light loam leaf-mould, to fill the box or 
remove the muslin; 
pan to the top. Rress the compost down 
with a piece of board. and sprinkle some 
fine sand over it. Sow the seeds thinly 
and then cover with an inch of finely 
sifted mould. The soil must not be too 
moist or too dry, as the seeds may die in 
one case and rot in the other The seed- 
lings should appear in about ten days. 
and they must have abundance of fresh 
air. Some writers suggest that the soil 
should be baked before sugaring it over 
the seeds, as the damping-of fungus is 
rather to be dreaded. ; 
(To be Continued.) 
Dew Ponds. 
A recent number of ‘The Lone Hand,” 
in dealing with ‘The Dew Ponds of 
England in Relation to the Nullarbor 
Plains of South Australia, states, inter 
alia :— 
— Method of Construction. — 
“The dew pond at Maiden Castle, in 
Dorsetshire, was pointed out to the 
writer’ by this name when asa boy he- 
used to sail boats on it; but the reason 
of the name was never questioned until 
this year, when a large farmer in Berk- 
shire called his attention to a small pond 
full of water, and wanted to know why 
a cemented pond he had just built had 
no water, while the one in the next farm 
was always full. Dew ponds were in- 
vented to give water in the strongholds 
for man and beast. There is still in Eng- 
land at least one wandering gang of men 
analogous to the medizval bands of ‘bell 
founders,’ ‘masons,’ ‘well-sinkers, &c., 
who will construct for the modern farmer 
a pond, which in any situation in a dry 
soil will always contain water—more in 
the heat of summer than in the winter 
rains. This water is not derived from 
springs or from rainfall, and is speedily 
lost if even the smallest spring is allow- 
ed to flow into this pond. The gang of 
dew pond-makers commence operat‘ons 
by hollowing out the earth far in excess 
‘of the apparent requirements of the pro- 
posed pond. They then thickly cover 
the whole of the hollow with dry straw, 
like a thick thatch. The straw in its turn 
is covered by a layer of well-chosen, 
finely-puddled clay. The pond will 
eradually become filled with water, the 
more rapidly the larger it is, even though 
no rain way fall. One thing, however, 
must be remembered, great care must be 
taken that the margin of the straw must 
be protected effectually by tho clay. 
— Why and Wherefore. — 
“The explanation is this:—If such a 
pond is constructed on the summit of a 
down, during the warmth of a summer 
day the earth will have stored a consid- 
erable amount of heat; while the pond, 
protected from this heat by the non-con- 
