seeds, actually lose pounds by burdening themselves with a bad article.  The art of ’roguing’—­the elimination of plants which are untrue to type—­is but one part of the seed-saving process.  There is the proper storing, the selecting and sorting operations, to which eyes and hands must be trained, and there must be no scruple about the sacrifice of false, immature or diseased samples.  The point we have in view is to advise the Potato grower to be sure of his seed, and when a doubt arises as to the purity and healthiness of the sample at command, it may be remembered that the seed merchant practises methods of purgation for insuring perfectly true stocks, while by growing in many different districts, and on diverse soils, he can furnish an admirable change of seed for any description of land.

==The Potato Disease.==—­The culture of Potatoes cannot be dismissed without allusion to the destructive fungus which is never absent in dry seasons, and in wet summers does its deadly work on a vast scale.  Scientific men have acquainted us with the history of the Potato fungus, and this may eventually result in as efficient a remedy as that which renewed the vineyards of France.  Such a remedy for the Potato murrain has yet to be discovered.  Meanwhile, we must continue to resist the foe with the plough, spade, draining tool, and above all with a wise selection of sorts.  It is an acknowledged fact that many Potatoes that have been cultivated for a long time appear to have lost their vigour, and are liable to succumb to the disease; but several kinds that have been raised from seed in recent years possess a constitution which almost defies the virulent assaults of the =Phytophthora infestans=.  Since the introduction of Sutton’s Magnum Bonum Potato there has been a disposition to believe in ‘Disease-proof Potatoes.’  There is no such thing absolutely, and perhaps there never will be, any more than there is a disease-proof wheat, or dog, or horse, or man.  But some varieties of Potatoes are known to be more susceptible to the ravages of disease than others, and it has been one of our aims to secure seedlings which combine the highest cropping and table qualities with the least tendency to succumb in seasons when conditions favour the spread of the fungus.  Scientific men have not yet explained why the varieties differ in this respect, but practical men have discovered that initial vigour of growth is the main defence against the plague, and as the growing of a good Potato costs no more than the growing of a poor variety, the cultivator should bestow his care on the very best he can obtain.  A little extra cost for seed in the first instance is as nothing to the multiplied chances of success a good variety carries with it.  To sum up this subject, then, we say that disease may be avoided in the early crops by cultivating sorts which may be lifted before the plague generally appears; and on soils which will not produce an early crop, only such varieties should be grown for the main crops as have been proved to be most capable of standing uninjured until late in the season.  Let there be a dry, warm bed, sufficient food, the fullest exposure to the life-giving powers of light, and conditions favourable to early ripening.