Rensselaer Union, Volume 11, Number 31, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 17 April 1879 — Production of Sweet Potato Plants. [ARTICLE]

Production of Sweet Potato Plants.

The great difficulty the oultivator of sweet potatoes has to contend with is the production of vigorous plants possessing well-developed fibrous roots. Experienced gardeners are not always successful with their hot-beds, which oftentimes prove cold ones and necessitate a second attempt Hot-beds for starting potatoes for the production of sprouts are prepared usually during the month of April, the date varying with the looation. Manure fresh from the horse stable is shaken well and evenly distributed into the bed or frame, to a depth of some twelve inches. When this is accomplished a long broad fioafd is laid on the surface and the manure pressed down by the weight of a laborer walking over it; the board is moved about until the whole surface has been treated in like manner. Next is spread a covering about three inches deep of rather dry sand. Upon this the seed potatoes, selected from the previous year’s crop, are set. These ought to be of medium size and of short, compact shape, and placed close together without actually torching, Many farmers observe the order of placing small ends next to large ends as the potatoes are inserted, because the small ends, or the ends that grow up, produce more sprouts than the opposite ends. Cover the potatoes when set with three inches of sand or loam. Great care and not a little experience is required to maintain the proper defree of heat and moisture. If either eat or moisture becomes excessive, the potatoes will rot, while deficient heat, with moisture, causes black rot. Heat and dryness, if they do not kill the sprouts, at least prevent their growth. If the heat therefore becomes too great, check it by piercing through the beds into the manure with a rake handle or other convenient implement, thus allowing the excess of heat to escape. Moisture can be regulated by the watering-pot, which, by the way, should be used on clear days only. Expose the beds to sunshine on bright days and cover with hay or straw at night; in rainy weather protect from excess of moisture with a covering of boards. The sprouts under favorable circumstances will be ready for transplanting in about one month, and, as the time draws near for their removal, they should be exposed to the open air to harden them for the field. They should be drawn by taking one at a time and gently extracting it, in order to avoid injury to the seed potato, from which, if undisturbed, a second crop may be obtained. One bushel of good seed, judiciously managed will yield from 1,2C0t0 1.500 sprouts at the first pulling, and half as many more at the second. Those obtained later are often regarded as desirable as the earlier ones.— N. Y. World.