Bulletin No. 35. 140 



The bush varieties should be planted 3 to 6 feet apart, and the 

 running varieties 6 to 8 feet apart. They are planted as melons 

 and cucumbers are, along furrows previously wet by a stream of 

 water. 



Varieties* Among early summer varieties the scalloped 

 ones are the most popular, the Mammoth White Bush and the 

 Mammoth Yellow Bush giving the heaviest yields at the Station 

 farm. None of the Northern winter sorts thrive here, the Cashaw 

 Crooked Neck Pumpkin taking its place. For fall and winter use 

 it should be planted during June or early July. 



SWEET POTATOES. 



Culture. The sweet potato is grown quite successfully in 

 southern Arizona. It may be grown in quite a variety of soils, 

 but prefers a fairly rich sandy loam. It is very sensitive to frost, 

 but thrives during hot weather. Planting out should not begin 

 until danger of frost is past, and in making summer plantings, 

 the fact that they will be killed by the first frosts of Autumn 

 should be kept in mind. The sweet potato is grown from sprouts 

 from tubers that are kept in a suitable condition for their devel- 

 opment. The young plants may be started in a hotbed, or in 

 the open air. In either case, heat from beneath is important. 

 If grown in the open air, a trench may be dug four or five feet 

 wide and about two feet deep and filled to within about six inches 

 of the top with firmly packed fresh horse manure. After adding 

 a few inches of soil and wetting the whole thoroughly, the pota- 

 toes may be placed upon the soil as close as possible and prevent 

 them coming in contact w 7 ith one another. Enough sand should 

 be thrown in to fill in between the potatoes and two or three 

 inches of sandy loam or sand thrown over the whole. The bed 

 should be kept moist, and in six to eight weeks the plants will 

 be ready for setting out. They may be removed from the tubers 

 as they lie in the bed, or the potatoes may be uncovered, the 

 shoots removed, and the cover replaced. Splitting the potatoes 

 before placing them in the bed facilitates the removal of the 

 young plants, as they will then all grow from the upper side. 



The plants are commonly set about eighteen inches apart on 

 the sides of ridges made three to five feet apart. Care should be 



