MASHED POTATOES
Digging one's own potatoes is one of the Joys of having a vegetable garden. It is a long time since I grew any. Eelworm put paid to elY modest bit of cultivation, but, at the Cottage, a good bit of ground is set aside for Potatoes and at the weekend I lifted a row to keep my hand in. The old belief that a big haulm has nothing at the root may be justified when nothing has been put into the ground but the seed, but if the soil is well manured as it should be a good haulm means a healthy crop. There was a time when fears were that the Potato crop would be a failure here, but the rain came and the soil, being well drained and light, produced an adequate lot of second earlies. There has only been one draw-back- the wireworm has thriven too, as it does in a Wet season, and the crop is somewhat riddled hY them. An old man to whom I mentioned the worm on meeting him at the entrance to his potato patch agreed that the worm was a great pest this season and then, cocking his head, remarked, 'But what of it? We'll mash em an' none'll be the wiser but me an' the enssus.'
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