POTATO CULTURE.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XXXI, Issue 2524, 4 February 1869, Page 3

POTATO CULTURE.

TO THE EDITOR OP THE LYTTELTON TIMES. Sir,—l see by your last Saturday's publication that Mr C. W. Cooke intends to answer your correspondent "Agriculturist," when he has finished his experiments. I shall be very glad to know the result, because I have no faith in Leonarmand's process, which consists in picking the flowers from the stalks.

I consider that the secretof success in potato culture lies in the care taken of the seed for next crop, and the state of the land, whether it is rich or poor. In support of this I extract the following from my notes of 1868:—July 25—Planted, on good dry land, two rows of kidney potatoes that had been kept in the storeroom by themselves, in order that their first germs should receive no injury; and two rows of the same kind from the pit, where all are kept for store; in removing them the usual damage was done, viz., broken sprouts. Dec. 7—Dug up a .splendid lot of those first two rows of kidney potatoes planted on July 25; everyone admires them, Jan, 9,1869—Dug up some of those second planted two rows; tliey are not yet perfect. It is plain no good could have been done by picking the flowers from the first; they had scarcely any; nor from the last, because they ought to have been treated like the first. Your obedient servant. A.F.