604 Cultivation of Arable Land.—Potatoes.

j in Lancafhire, where this mode of planting was formerly much in ufe. It has : likewife been fuggefted, that potatoes may be grown in a very beneficial man-

ner on{ward lands, by ploughing them very thin, and putting the fets in under i!| furrow*. And in thefe cafes Mr. Somerville advifes, that a plough be made ufe of that only juft pares off the fward, and depofits it flat in the bottom of the | furrow, the root fide uppermoft; the fets being placed by the planter on the in- | verted fod immediately after this plough, and then covered with the fine mold from below by a common plough.

But whatever may be the nature of the foil on which the potatoe is planted, it fhould be reduced by the operation of the plough,{pade, or harrow, into as fine and mellow a condition as poffible, in order that the earth may lie fo light | and porous as to admit of the proper{welling of its knobby roots. In moft

diftri€ts where this root is much cultivated it is the cuftom to give the land that is intended for this crop one or two ploughings in the latter part of the autumn, and, after it has been thus expofed to the influence of the atmofphere during the winter, in the fpring at the time of planting to reduce the cloddy fur- face well by means of harrowing, after which the ground will be in a fuitable condition for receiving the fets. On the marfh lands in the Weft Riding of Yorkfhire, where the cultivation of the potatoe in the field is carried on to a con- | fiderable extent, the lands that are intended to be cropped with this root, whe- WW ther the preceding crops have been wheat, beans, or oats, are ploughed up at Chriftmas, or as foon after as the work can be done; and in the middle of i April, if the foil has become fufficiently dry, it is harrowed well at intervals, Wie occafionally ufing the roller, until the whole has been brought into a perfe€tly it fine ftate. After this the Jand is to be ridged up, in order to be planted.

i) As the potatoe forms its produce below the ground, and is of very luxuriant growth as well as confiderable increafe, it can but in few cafes be cultivated to advantage without the affiftance of manure. And as it requires that the foil fhould be kept free from the ftagnation of moifture, as well as light and open, it Ki| may be the moft advantageous method to make ufe of the ftable kind in its long or more littery condition, as by this means the ground, efpecially when of the wet kind, may be kept more light and open, as well as more free from injurious i} moifture, and at the fame time a more durable fupply of nourifhment be pro- Nia vided for the crop, by its more gradual decay. Where this fort of manure can- i| not be provided in fufficient quantity, old thatch, the ftrawy litter from the fold-

Wr yard, or any fimilar material, may be employed.

* Experienced Farmer, vol, I.