Rensselaer Union, Volume 3, Number 38, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 15 June 1871 — Culture of the Sweet Potato. [ARTICLE]

Culture of the Sweet Potato.

Two modes of cultivation are common. The former may be described as innplanting—the latter as planting in ridges. In the one case the comp ’»t of short barnyard manure and marl is dropped about half shovelful at intervals, wherethe furrows are crossed at from two and a half to three feet apart, covered with soil by means of the hoe, forming a hill lor the insertion of sprouts at the proper season. In the other a furrow is marked out (as in ordinary potato planting) from three to four feet apart, then filled with compost and covered with a return furrow and left until planting time—setting the sprouts about twenty inches apart in the row. The latter method has my preference, although the other is the most economical of compost. I have tried both modes, and the most satisfactory results have accrued under the latter method. Ridges are far more con viently worked than hills, not only with the hoe and cultivate! 1 , but with the plow also. I think lam safe in sayipg that in the average experience of a senes of years no advantage is secured by a v< ry early setting out of the sprouts from the hot bed. I greatly prefer that they should remain under the frame until they are well fur uished with roots. The 'small and sickly scions never do well, and an earlier return may be expected from well-rooted plants, set out in the field a week or two later, provided they are supplied with roots. Many farmers set great store by getting their plants out in the first week jn May. I believe they will generally faro better by deferring the main planting of the crop until the beginning of June. I admit that if the season should pmve favorable, and the early planting encounters no drawback, the product may be available for market in advance of . ihe more tardy but less venturesome planters; but if the experience "of five or six years be averaged, lam inclined to the opinion that it jyill confirm the view I have expressed. One of the most fatal enemies to the growth of the sweet potato is frost, whether early or late; and in order to avoid the labor and loss of replanting 1 prefer the course which I have advocated. After setting out the sprouts, for which puSfpose a wet time is alwaj’s desirable, though they may be planted in dry weather provided they are well watered with rain or creek water, not too cold, and allowed to warm in the sun if possible. Great care is requisite in guarding the plants against the ravages of the cutworm. This ugly little customer shows his prowess by biting the sprout off' close to the ground. It is necessary to follow the caitiff, and he will generally be found cozily coiled up for a nap, if the surface soil is carefully removed. When caught he is to be disposed of. In a large field this is troublesome work, but if you follow it up for a few days, replacing the sprouts which are cut off bj r fresh ones, you will generally succeed in exterminating these vile poachers. Keep your plauts from being parched in the soil, as they will be, if not attended to after warm sunshine upon a hard rain. In order to do this, loosen the ground about them. This is an important matter. Then keep down the weeds with a hoe, throw up the ground between the ridges with the cultivator, and keep light and fresh until it is lime to use the plow in order to throw the soil up into ridges. Turn the vines all one way, then run your plow between the rows, always turning the furrow towards the plants. Reverse the plants after you have done this, and plow over the space which you have vacated for this purpose, and gqnerallj’ nothing more will be needed except an occasional weeding (and the vines should be pulled loose to prevent their taking root) until you harvest the potatoes. ' • The proper time to dig sweet potatoes for harvesting them for winter sales or use is the first week of October, if possible, before frost blackens the vines; for, if the. season is stormy, and the ground keeps wet and cold, the potatoes will take injury. The potatoes when dug should lie in the sun, if possible, to dry before being packed away for keeping, anil be particular not to handle them roughly, bruise or skin them. Great difficulty is encountered in keeping sweet potatoes, ns they must be kept at uniform temperature,-aud are very sensitive to frost. The njost successful mode for keeping them is to pack them up in ranks four feet square to eight feet high upon the floor in a chamber or room over a stove beneath where a fire is kept in coldweather throughout the day—the room being heated with a drum connecting with the stove, and keeping the room warm enough to make the temperature between fifty and seventy degrees Fahrenheit, and not allowing it to go below fifty.—Germantoicn Telegraph. A