The Book of the Potato - A Practical Handbook Dealing With the Cultivation of the Potato in Allotment, Garden and Field, for Home Consumption; Also the Pests and Diseases Thereof; Together With Selections and Descriptions of the Most P... #271247

Few people recognised prior to 1914 that the British folk would later on have to face the problem of a possible shortage of potatoes for food. Until then we were able to produce, with the exception of the very earliest supplies, which were imported in large quantities from the Canary and Channel Islands, sufficient to meet the then requirements of the population of this country. But since the advent of the great European War, such immense quantities have had to be exported to the front to feed our great army that the supply for home consumption has necessarily been considerably curtailed. Another difficulty in production, too, has arisen in consequence of the military authorities having taken so many of the workers on the land to serve in the forces, that it has not been possible for farmers and market gardeners to plant so large an acreage with potatoes as in former years. It is, therefore, no wonder that our supplies should not be abundant, or that these should increase in value.<br><br>In face of these facts, it becomes the imperative duty of occupiers of gardens and allotments to cultivate their own supplies, and not rely, as in the past, on obtaining them from the shop or market. Happily, this fact has already been seriously recognized by country and suburban dwellers, and a greater area of land has been laid under tribute for potato culture than was previously the case.