Page:The family kitchen gardener - containing plain and accurate descriptions of all the different species and varieties of culinary vegetables (IA familykitchengar56buis).pdf/107

 article is sparingly laid on. Two or three inches thick is a good manuring, but if that quantity cannot be obtained to cover the whole ground, put it three or four inches thick in the drill only whereon the sets are laid. It is not our purpose to enter into a labored dissertation on the culture of this esculent on a large scale, or we could easily show that it is but very imperfectly understood. Our object at present is garden culture, and our remarks are intended to apply to that branch. A gardener or farmer must be very low in the scale of his profession, unless he knows what crop is to follow another; and it is a point very necessary with potatoes that the ground be roughly dug before Winter, to have the soil well ameliorated before planting. Presuming that the ground is clear where the late Cabbage crop was taken from, dig it deeply and turn it up roughly for the action of the Winter; then, early in Spring, lay on your manure, and as soon as the ground can be worked, open a furrow the full depth of the spade. Lay therein three or four inches of dung, on which plant the sets with the eye upward, ten inches apart, eighteen to twenty inches from row to row. Dig over the ground and plant as you proceed. Sets for planting should be cut at least one week before planting, and spread out thin on a floor to dry. Potatoes of medium size can make from four to six sets. There is a great difference of opinion in regard to the size of the potato to be used for the purpose of planting, some carefully selecting the largest, others preferring the medium, and some retaining the smallest. We never put any regard upon the size of the tuber, though we are careful in observing the size of the set. In the event of their being small, we do not cut them; if of medium size, we make four to six sets; and if large, eight sets may be made. Again, the point of the potato is considered more early than the root-end, and some only use those eyes that are in the middle. We have never deemed this advantage worth much attention, though for a few very early planting we give preference to those eyes nearest the point of the tuber. As soon