Rensselaer Union, Volume 1, Number 33, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 13 May 1869 — Farm and Household. [ARTICLE]

Farm and Household .

mrwfeHtatotWdiiW (v j lx is now years stone a Mj. Davenport planted siMMVMaMBUt Long Neck, Staten Island, pdi waa,£teaarUesb attempt to raisethUetoutent in «Gtoini tv of New York, pr iu tip NortheinNtetex Of course, neighbors werp limredulous, and Mr. Davenport himself reaps to havefeet with such modersMhuceegp as led soon to discontinuance Ute Attempt! But a Mr. Hancock went off wufr tire experiments, and nt last he estaMftimdMhW» feet that the sweet pOMto ootiMMW grown with advantage (ft the CbfrferCHtoWte ‘angof a quality rivalling the crops of Virginia or the Carolinas. lie sold plgntfiqaifo ex tenaively, and the increasing demand induoed others, both on the Island and: in Monmouth and other counties to New JerS. y, to embark ih the Muxatenterprise. Now thousands of bustteli are raised each season for the Metropolitan market, and the business is extending its proportions. The method of cultiffois simple. The crop is raised from slips ‘pulled from the potato, the potato having been first placed to a hot bed one month before. The manner of growing them in a lot-bed is as follows: Make the hot-bed the same as y<?u would to raise tomatoes or egg plants, with the exception that one inch of dirt is a sufficient covering for the manure. Over this place the sweet potatoes (small ones are preferable) so they cover just one half the space; or. In other words, one •barrel snould be placed to a bed six feet Wide by seventeen and one half feet long , (five ■ashes, six by three and one half feet); then cover the potatoes one inch deep. In about two weeks the sprouts wlll begin to ■how through the ground, then cover again with one iaeh of soil till th«y show themselves again, when the covering may be repeated the same aa before, making three inches of soil, which .will be sufficient. As to watering, great care should be used, and the ground should not become thoroughly wet, as in most cases it would rot the potatoes. Neither shoeld it become so dry that they will not sprout.' Here practice only oan tell the true amount of water to be used. The temperature is of the utmost importance, as many of the old growers will tell you, and the heat should never be allowed to get higher than 00 s . One hour of hot sun will entirely rot and rtfin them. Inoue instance, I remember, by the carelessness of help, I had eight barrels cooked to a peeling condition, and had to replace them by other potatoes, at a cost of eight doUare per barrel. The soU is an ereatial part for the hot-bed, and should be of a sandy nature. Heavier soil, bafies and retards the sprouting. After tbe sprouts are sufficiently large, remove the sashes, and they will be sufficiently hardened in tfiree days to bear transplanting in the field. After the removal, the sash may be replaced and a second crop of plants produced. . After the potato sprouts, plenty of water should be given to make a rapid growth. For the last few years some of the larger growers are giving up hotbeds to the cultivation of such plants, and - are raising them in houses heated by hot water. This practice ia preferable, because more certain and much less expensive than buying manure, and also on account of the facilities for controlling the heat, which cannot be obtained in a hotbed. The ground in which the plants are to be set should be plowed very shallow (not more than four inches) as soon as ths soil is in suitable condition—the earlier the better. .Then leave it till time of planting (which is from 10th of May to 15th of J one), then strike the furrows with a-eorn plow, making furrows three and a half feet apart; atter which t>ladq the'msnurii in the furrows,-spreading it along to evteff thickness; the manure may be the same as that used for corn on Irish potatoes; a compost of horse-manure with barnyard and hog-manure I find best. There take a two-hone plow and cover the fttrrow from each ride, throwing the soil directly over the manure as high as practicable. Then smooth the ridge l|he plants sixteen inches apart, either way*, just before or just after a shower, or on aj overcast day. The attention required i§ the same as that of oofomdh pbmoefi, Except when the vines begin to run they must be kept from rooting-In the tows/as this takes away -the substance fresn -the bilL 1’ z '< 1 ■ • - . < The above is adapted only to loamy soil; those who have a. sandy soil must not give the same treatment. I- have found that it pays wail to put sand in the hills where the ground is a little heavy.— Hearth and Homa,. , * :x .