Allotments 4 All

Hi all
my spuds are chitting away nicely, and there I was reading Bob Flowerdew's "Gourmet Gardener" and he was saying you can rub off surplus sprouts and pot them on for planting out later.  However he doesn't elaborate on how to pot them on and when/how to plant them out.
I'm guessing that they just get shoved (pointy end up) into potting compost like any other cutting?
Questions are, how do you plant them out? 
How big does the plant have to be before it can be planted out? 
Does the whole plant get covered as if it was being earthed up?

I imagine you'd need to let them develop to the point of growing roots, then you could pot them up and treat them normally. Or alternatively, you could just cut the potato into sections with a sprout on each.

Robert i know that's the traditional way of doing it, however i thought it was frowned on nowadays as a possible means of spreading viral and soilborne infections.

I know some people frown om it, but I seem to end up slicing a few every year, and I've never had a problem.

Whereas I always have some to give away!!