388 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
October  15,  1898. 
POTATOES— LIFTING  AND  STORING. 
The  lifting  of  Potatoes  on  a  small  scale  is  a  simple  matter; 
'«tlie  fork  is  the  natural  implement  to  use,  and  the  only  question 
to  answer  is,  “  Are  the  Potatoes  ready  for  digging  ?  ”  A  very 
ready  answer  may  be  given  to  this  ;  “  They  are  ready  if  the 
'skins  cannot  be  easily  rubbed  off.” 
When,  however,  the  acreage  to  be  lifted  may  be  reckoned  by 
scores  or  hundreds,  economy  of  time  and  labour  is  most  impor¬ 
tant,  and  to  find  the  easiest  and  readiest  way  of  completing  the 
work  is  now  puzzling  the  brains  of  the  leading  growers,  and  is 
the  subject  of  inquiry  by  practical  trials  under  the  auspices  of 
the  Royal  Agricultural  Society  of  England. 
As  soon  as  the  area  becomes  too  large  for  the  fork,  the 
plough  comes  into  use,  not  an  ordinary  plough,  but  one  having 
instead  of  mould  boards  pieces  of  steel  in  the  shape  of  fork  tines, 
with  more  of  the  same  placed  fan  shape  at  the  heel  of  the  plough. 
There  are  probably  more  Potatoes  taken  up  with  the  plough 
4.han  in  any  other  way,  the  chief  advantage  being  that  the 
smallest  amount  of  damage  is  done  to  the  tubers ;  but,  when  the 
land  is  very  wet  or  foul  with  rubbish,  a  considerable  number  of 
Potatoes  may  be  left  in  the  land.  Of  course,  more  will  come  out 
if  the  land  is  well  combed  out  with  the  os-harrow,  but  many  of 
them  get  well  scratched  in  the  process. 
Strong  pickers  are  required  after  a  plough ;  children  are  of 
little  use,  not  being  able  to  scratch  the  sides  of  the  furrows. 
Women  make  excellent  pickers  whei*e  they  can  be  had,  but  in 
the  large  Potato  districts  of  Lincolnshire  and  Yorkshire  men, 
English  and  Irish,  are  principally  employed 
In  some  cases  the  work  is  done  by  piece  at  18s.  or  20s.  per 
acre,  according  to  weight  of  crop  or  state  of  the  soil.  In  others 
•men  are  paid  by  the  day,  28.  being  a  usual  wage,  with  lodging, 
but  no  board  except  a  little  milk. 
It  is  a  refreshing  sight  to  see  a  gang  of  really  good  Irishmen 
picking  Potatoes  by  the  acre;  the •  vigour  with  which  they 
attack  the  opened  ridges  is  wonderful.  They  do  not  pick  them  ; 
"they  fairly  fight  for  them,  and  the  progress  made  is  accordingly 
very  great. 
Many  machines  have  been  devised  to  take  the  place  of  the 
plough,  but  only  one  type  has  met  with  any  amount  of  success — 
■one  with  a  pair  of  large  wheels  running  one  on  each  side  of  the 
ridge,  and  driving  a  set  of  revolving  forks. 
The  measure  of  success  of  these  machines  varies  very  much 
according  to  the  land  on  which  they  are  used.  On  loose  sand 
they  never  work  well,  as  the  driving  wheels  cannot  get  sufficient 
hold  to  drive  the  forks;  the  wheels  skid,  and  the  machine 
soon  stops.  On  firm  soil,  particularly  if  it  be  stony,  such  a 
machine  will  make  very  good  work.  We  have  used  one  for 
twenty  years,  and  so  can  speak  from  experience.  There  are  two 
valuable  points  in  these  machines — they  spread  the  Potatoes  on 
-the  surface  so  that  anyone  can  gather  them,  and  they  so 
thoroughly  throw  out  the  ridge  that  very  little  after  harrowing 
is  required.  The  drawback  is,  that  they  sometimes  injure  the 
tubers,  giving  them  very  nasty  knocks  ;  but  this  damage  is 
generally  confined  to  the  very  large  ones.  Potatoes  growing 
large,  such  as  the  Giant,  Colossal,  or  Imperator,  would  always 
be  better  ploughed  out 
Several  firms  make  these  machines.  They  are  supposed  to 
^ork  easily  with  two  horses,  but  three  are  better  They  would 
-come  into  very  general  use  if  the  bruising  of  the  Potatoes  could 
be  prevented.  Perhaps  the  trials  now  taking  place  may  be  the 
means  of  introducing  some  such  improvement.  When  the  Pota¬ 
toes  are  out  of  the  ground,  if  not  intended  for  immediate  sale, 
they  should  be  made  safe  from  frost  and  rain  at  once. 
The  pie  or  pit  should  be  made  on  level  ground  where  there 
is  ample  drainage ;  the  width  should  vary  with  chan^ng 
circumstances.  We  know  of  growers  who  seldom  make  their 
pies  less  than  9  feet  wide  at  the  base ;  but  as  a  pie  this  8ize> 
well  ridged  up,  would  hold  more  than  a  ton  to  the  lineal  yard, 
the  tubers  would  have  to  be  very  sound  as  well  as  ripe  to  be 
safely  stored  in  such  a  way.  Seven  and  a  half  feet  is  a  fair 
width ;  but  if  there  is  much  disease  or  damp,  or  want  of  ripe¬ 
ness,  six  feet,  or  even  only  five  and  a  half,  would  be  safer. 
The  Potatoes  should  be  thrown  up  as  high  as  they  can  be 
got  to  lie  without  rolling  down.  The  side  will  then  have  a  good 
pitch,  and  be  more  impervious  to  the  wet 
The  strawing  is  very  important.  It  should  be  put  on  tidily 
and  straight,  as  much  as  possible  like  thatch  on  a  stack.  With 
straw  of  a  good  length  one  layer  on  each  side  and  one  over  the 
ridge  will  be  sufficient.  To  turn  frost  a  fair  thickness  must  be 
used,  and  it  must  be  dry ;  this  is  very  important.  The  severe 
winter  of  two  seasons  ago  tested  this  most  conclusively  for  us. 
Part  of  the  straw  of  a  pie  got  wet  before  being  earthed  up,  and 
that  was  the  only  part  where  there  was  frost  injury. 
The  part  of  the  pie  most  liable  to  frost  is  the  base  of  the 
side,  about  a  foot  or  so  in  height.  Many  clever  growers  place 
narrow  bats  of  straw  along  each  side  before  putting  the  top 
straw  on;  they  also  help  to  keep  the  sides  np.  The  sooner  the 
earth  is  on  tne  better;  but  a  foot  in  width  along  the  ridge 
should  be  left  without  earth  until  December.  The  natural 
heating  of^the  roots  will  keep  out  early  frosts. 
WORK  ON  THE  HOME  FARM. 
Wheat  is  going  in  very  well ;  the  land  has  been  easy  to  plough  and  the 
work  was  well  done,  so  that  the  work  of  the  drill  was  facilitated.  Some 
people  might  say  that  the  land  was  quite  wet  enough,  but  Wheat  may 
go  into  too  dry  a  seedbed,  and  we  should  almost  say  that  this  year’s  has 
been  just  the  happy  mean  in  that  respect. 
We  heard  of  Wheat-drilling  in  September,  but  it  was  after  summer 
fallow.  October  is  early  enough  after  ley,  and  very  light  land  would 
be  best  left  until  the  end  of  the  month. 
The  ewes  are  now  running  with  the  'ram,  and  will  pay  for  a  little 
better  keep.  If  no  Rape  or  Turnips  can  be  spared  for  them,  new  seeds 
are  the  next  best  pasture,  and  a  little  Barley  given  early  in  the  morning 
is  beneficial.  If  the  ewes  are  kept  in  separate  parties — one  ram  to  each 
lot — the  rams  should  be  changed  at  least  once  during  the  season,  and  in 
the  case  of  large  flocks  there  should  always  be  a  ram  or  two  in  reserve. 
Stubbles  for  next  year’s  Turnips  are  all  ploughed  down.  Having 
used  both  the  chilled  plough  and  the  old-fashioned  type  for  this  work 
we  are  much  convinced  of  the  superiority  of  the  former ;  the  furrow 
is  better  turned,  and  every  scrap  of  vegetation  more  thoroughly  buried. 
Where  any  considerable  portion  of  this  year’s  Oat  and  Barley  straw  • 
has  been  exposed  to  the  recent  bad  weather  much  difficulty  must  be 
experienced  in  wintering  the  stock,  for  the  weathered  straw  can  be 
of  little  value  as  food,  and  will  have  to  be  supplemented  with  some¬ 
thing  more  nutritious.  These  high  winds  we  are  experiencing  now 
are  of  great  value  in  drying  and  getting  into  condition  the  corn  in 
stacks.  The  threshing  machine  is  busy  in  many  a  stack  yard  whenever 
a  dry  day  comes  ;  but  wind  is  quite  as  deterrent  as  rain,  and  many 
farmers  find  great  difficulty  in  even  getting  a  little  seed  Wheat  thrashed 
out,  and  are  in  other  instances  put  to  great  inconvenience  by  want  of 
straw  for  bedding  and  the  covering  of  Potato  pies. 
Where  any  farmer  has  a  really  good  bright  sample  of  Barley  on  show, 
he  will  experience  no  difficulty  in  selling  it  at  a  first-rate  price.  In  the 
southern  counties  Tares,  winter  Barley,  and  Beans  will  now  be  drilled. 
MBTEOROLOaiOAL  OBSERVATIONS. 
Oamden  Squarb,  London. 
Lat.Slosa'W"  H. :  Lous'.  0°  8/0"  W.:  Altitude  III  feet 
Datb.  1  9  a.m.  [  In  the  Day. 
_ I _ !  _ _ 
1896. 
®  ■* 
Hygrometer. 
rjreo- 
tlon  of 
Temp, 
of  soil 
Shade  Tem¬ 
perature. 
Radiation 
Temperature 
cS 
03 
October. 
S  CO  c8 
oS  4a  0^ 
CQ  CQ 
Dry. 
Wet. 
Wind, 
1  foot. 
Max. 
Min. 
In 
Sun. 
On 
Grass. 
Sunday  ... 
4 
Inohs. 
29-598 
leg. 
59-6 
deg. 
57-9 
s. 
deg. 
54-8 
deg. 
62-1 
deg. 
55-5 
deg. 
80-1 
deg. 
61-3 
Incha. 
0  146 
Monday  ., 
5 
29-566 
47-8 
44  0 
s  w. 
53-9 
54-1 
42-2 
92-9 
36-9 
0-032 
Tuesday 
6 
29-737 
51-2 
49-2 
s.w. 
62-1 
57-1 
43-6 
58-2 
38-0 
0-638 
Wednesday 
7 
29-836 
48-3 
451 
N. 
52-2 
61-2 
43-2 
72-4 
37-2 
0-248 
Thursday . . 
8 
29-566 
58-8 
64-7 
S.W. 
52-9 
62  9 
43-4 
94-1 
46-1 
— 
Friday 
9 
29  837 
52-6 
49-0 
s  w. 
63-1 
62-9 
47-9 
97-7 
40-9 
— 
Saturday  . . 
10 
29-738 
54-9 
53-4 
s  w. 
52-8 
62-2 
46-2 
100-3 
38-9 
— 
29-695 
63-3 
5p6 
531 
60-4 
46-7 
85-1 
41-3 
1-064 
4th. — Overcast,  mild  and  damp  mornlncr ;  wet  afternoon  ;  clear  night. 
5th.— Bright  sunshine  all  morning  and  frequently  in  afternoon;  spots  of  rain  at 
2  P.M.  and  showe-s  at  night. 
6th. — Almost  incessant  lain  from  9.30  a.m.  to  11  P.M. 
7ih. — Generally  sunny  in  morning  ;  overcast  and  drizzly  from  noon,  and  heavy  rain 
between  2.30  and  3.30  P.M.  Gale  at  night. 
8th. — Generally  overcast,  but  frequent  intervals  jf  sunshine. 
9th.— Bright  sun  almost  all  day. 
10th. — Frequent  sunshine  in  morning ;  spots  of  rain  at  midday ;  bright  afternoon. 
The  first  half  wet,  the  second  half  flue  and  pleasant.  Temperature  very  near  the 
average, — G.  J,  Symoss. 
