e ground between the hills or ridges tends to their
extension. This latter treatment, however, must not be carried beyond a
certain stage in the growth of the plant, or after the tubers have
reached a considerable size, as the extremities of the roots might be
seriously injured. Some varieties of potatoes produce their tubers at a
much greater distance from the stem than others. These are chiefly to be
found among the later sorts. Most of the early kinds produce theirs
close to the stem, or at the extremity of very short runners; seldom
more than nine inches from the stalk of the plant."

_Forcing._--This should be commenced from three to four weeks before the
season for planting in the open ground. The earliest varieties should be
chosen for the purpose, selecting whole tubers of medium size, and
placing them close together, in a single layer, among half-decayed
leaves or very light loam, on the surface of a moderate hot-bed.

"When the shoots have attained the height of two or three inches, and
the weather has become sufficiently mild, they should be carefully taken
out, and divided into sets; in the process of cutting up the tubers,
avoiding as much as possible doing injury to the small fibrous roots,
and also to the growing shoots. These sets should then be planted out in
hills or drills, in the usual manner and at the usual depth; if
possible, leaving the upper portion of the young shoot just above the
surface of the ground. Some care is requisite in planting out the sets,
particularly in covering; for, if the soil is applied too rudely, the
sprouts, which separate very easily from the tubers, are exceedingly
liable to be broken off, and the set destroyed for early use. If severe
cold or frosty weather occurs, the plants should be protected by straw,
or any convenient, light material, placed along the drills or on the
hills."

_Taking the Crop, and Method of Preservation._--"The early varieties
should be dug for use as they attain a suitable size; which, in warm
exposure, will be about the beginning of July; and thence till the
middle of August, in less favorable places. The practice of partially
removing the soil from about the roots, and gathering the largest
tubers, leaving the smaller ones, with the expectation that they will
attain a larger size, is a mode of proceeding which seldom realizes the
hopes of the cultivator; for the Potato, if once disturbed at the roots,
seldom recovers the check.

"When no ap