274 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Apr. 



If the ground is such that a pit would hold water 

 better, make the bed entirely above ground, simply 

 banking up to preveut the escape of heat from the 

 sides of the bed, or a frame may be made deep 

 enough to contain both the manure and the soil un- 

 der and over the potatoes. D. G. Edmiston. 



Adrian, Mich., Feb. 25, 1889. 



KEEPING SWEET POTATOES FOR SEED AND FOR 

 PLANTS. 



First, dig sweet potatoes, intended for seed or for 

 keeping, before any frost kills the vines. Dig on a 

 clear day, if possible, so the tubers may dry well; 

 after lying in the sunshine, remove to an out-room 

 and spread out to cure and evaporate superabun 

 dant moisture. Should quite cool weathercome on, 

 cover with old blankets or carpet. On no account 

 must the temperature of the tubers get down to 32°, 

 or you will not need a hot-bed for that lot of tubers. 

 On approach of freezing weather we pack in bar- 

 rels and remove to a room that is warmed so as to 

 not fall below about 40°, keeping the barrels open 

 to air. They are packed in the barrels as apples 

 are, with no packing between them. They should 

 be handled eo as to bruise as little as possible. We 

 remove our seed tubers to the sitting-room which is 

 warmed pretty regularly all winter, on the ap- 

 proach of severe weather. We generally keep 

 about two barrels of tubers over for seed, and sel- 

 dom lose more than \ bushel out of the lot. I have 

 repeatedly tried keeping tubers in my cellar, a very 

 nice dry warm one, but they invariably rotted be- 

 fore spring. 



About the last week in March we get our hot-beds 

 ready, using forest-leaves and strawy manure, 

 principally leaves, as we have them in abundance 

 close at hand, and the process of fermentation and 

 heating goes on much slower, and lasts much long- 

 er, than with all straw manure. We tramp this 

 heating material down a foot deep at least, and 

 cover with about 5 inches of soil, composed of pure 

 sand, woods-earth, and coal-braes from old char- 

 coal-pits. I presume any good rich loam will an- 

 swer, the blacker the better, as it will absorb the 

 sun heat better. Put on sash and heat up; and as 

 soon as the ground is warm through, which can be 

 found out by running the hand down in the soil, 

 put in the tubers, sinking them at least 1!4 inches 

 below the surface. Give the beds all the sun heat 

 they can get, even until they fairly steam. Sweet 

 potatoes will not germinate well unless kept very 

 warm and moist. If plants come on too soon for 

 your market, pull off as soon as 5 or 6 inches long, 

 and " heel in" in nice fine earth, keeping shaded 

 and wetted for a few days until they strike root, 

 after which they are the best for transplanting. 

 Should they be kept too long in this condition they 

 will commence forming little tubers, after which 

 they are useless for planting, as they will not throw 

 out a second set of tubers. I would especially cau- 

 tion against using such plants. The large tubers 

 we place in the hot-beds by themselves to sprout; 

 and, as soon as started, we split them in two, plant 

 the cut side downward, so as not to have long dan- 

 gling plants. If large tubers are cut in halves be- 

 fore they begin to sprout they are liable to rot. I 

 would on no account cut them before. Tubers 

 should be 4 or 6 inches apart, so as not to crowd the 

 plants. Plants should all be pulled as soon as 5 or 6 

 inches high, as long plants are not desirable; and 

 to allow a new set to grow. We sometimes have 



4000 to 6000 plants heeled in before a single plant is 

 sold, and grow from 20,000 to 10,000 per season. 



The sweet potato is.a lover of heat; and if you 

 want a nice lot of plants, their bed must be kept 

 quite warm. Cloth shades are of no use; use only 

 sash with glass, and cover the sash at night with 

 old carpets, rugs, or matting, or even plank, to re- 

 tain the heat, much of which would be lost through 

 the glass. 



r, To recapitulate : Tubers must be kept warm and 

 dry, and not fall below 40° in temperature. Hot- 

 beds must be made quite warm, and kept so, and 

 beds kept stripped of plants over 4 or 5 inches 

 above ground. Last season was very unfavorable 

 for hot-beds, as the weather was cloudy most of the 

 time, and surface heating was of little avail. We 

 could have sold 100.C00 plants had we had them, as 

 many beds failed to germinate, on account of a 

 lack of heat. We have been growing plants for 

 market for ten years. E. G. Kinsei.l,. 



Green Spring Furnace, Md. 



USING CLOTH TO COVER THE BEDS, ETC. 



Friend Root:— I have been engaged in the busi- 

 ness to some extent for the past 20 years. The ma- 

 nure of which the bed is composed should be forked 

 over a time or two besides the handling it gets in 

 hauling from the stable and unloading where the 

 bed is to be constructed. About the first of April 

 (I write for my latitude) I find early enough to 

 build the bed. I use a pit about 12 inches deep, in 

 which 1 place about 15 inches of manure from the 

 horse-stable. Here I would say, that, should it con- 

 tain a great deal of straw, it will need more fork- 

 ing. The object of the extra forking is to get it 

 thoroughly mixed. 1 scatter over the bed, treading 

 down evenly and firmly. My beds are designed to 

 take a frame made of three 16-foot boards for the 

 sides, 12 inches wide, one board in front, two at the 

 back, with sloping end-pieces 5V£ or 6 feet long. The 

 bed, or pit, should be one foot larger every way 

 than the frame. The above size will hold about one 

 barrel or 2% bushels of potatoes as they should be 

 bedded. I place ribs, or cross-supports, about 254 or 

 3 feet apart, to support the canvas, which I make of 

 heavy unbleached sheeting, a yard wide, two widths 

 stitched together about 5 yards long, requiring 10 or 

 11 yards for one frame cover, costing 8 or 9 cents 

 per yard. Now, to avoid the trouble you speak of I 

 tack one of the long sides to a light straight piece 

 of board, usually 3 or 4 inches wide, one thick, the 

 other side and two ends being supplied with light 

 rings about V£ inch in diameter, sewed in loops on 

 the cover about 2 feet apart, which are to be hooked 

 over nails tacked in the frame to hold the cover on 

 the side on which the roller is attached (for such it 

 is) is also secured in a similar manner. When- 

 ever it is desired to give the bed an airing, unhook 

 and roll back as far as desired, not unhooking any 

 further back on the canvas than you wish to roll. 

 Of course, if the day is warm enough the end rings 

 can all be unhooked, and the cover quickly and 

 neatly rolled to one side, secure from any ordinary 

 Wind. I next place from 4 to 5 inches of soil on it. 

 Prom the 10th to the 20th of April is soon enough to 

 bed the potatoes. My experience leads me to say 

 more potatoes are ruined by being placed in a bed 

 too hot than one too cold. It is best, of course, to 

 avoid either extreme. It is to be understood, that 

 good sound seed is advised. Level the soil nicely, 

 free from lumps or clods; place the potatoes from 



