276 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Apr. 



manure, with considerable straw and forest-leaves 

 thoroughly mixed and thrown into a large heap to 

 heat. When it gets steaming hot I fork it over in- 

 to another heap to heat up again, by which time it 

 is ready for the bed or pit, for I dig a pit 2 l / 2 feet 

 deep and (5 inches larger every way than the frame. 

 Into this pit I shake the material, beinj;- careful to 

 get it in as evenly as possible, at the same time 

 treading it down solid and building it up 6 inches 

 above the level of the ground, banking up the out- 

 side with dirt to keep the heat from escaping side- 

 wise. I now set the frame on and put on the sash. 

 Now the bed will heat up the third time, and we 

 must wait a few days until it cools down; for if we 

 put the potatoes on while it is too hot they will 

 surely decay, and the whole thing will be a failure. 

 I watch it very closely with a thermometer, by 

 plunging it down deep into the bed; and when the 

 heat recedes to 90° or a little below, the bed is 

 ready. I now put on four inches of good rich gar- 

 den soil, and firm it down with a board, and put the 

 potatoes on as thick as they will conveniently lie 

 and not touch; then if one rots is will not affect the 

 rest. I cover with 2% inches of the same soil that 

 is under them, being careful to have it moist and 

 in good condition. Bank up the outside of the 

 frame a little higher than the dirt on the inside, 

 and raise the frame up so as to give the required 

 depth under the sash. Now on goes the sash, and 

 nothing remains to be done but to give it air on 

 sunny days. I never water until the plants come 

 through the ground. The above plan is for high 

 ground. If the ground is low and wet, the pit must 

 either be drained or the bed must be built on top 

 of the ground. Orson Terrell. 



North Ridgeville, O., Feb. 23, 1889. 



RAISING SWEET POTATOES AND SWEET POTATO 

 PLANTS IN RUTHERFORD Co., TENN. 



Editor Gleaning*:— Thousand of bushels of sweet 

 potatoes are annually raised in this, Rutherford 

 County, and many persons make the production a 

 specialty, and several farmers raise nothing else to 

 sell, and depend solely on the potato as a money 

 crop. In our latitude, Middle Tennessee, about the 

 last of March or first of April they are bedded for 

 "slips." A variety known as the Southern Queen, 

 a white or rather light-pale yellow, is almost uni- 

 versally planted. A raised bed is to be preferred to 

 one even with or below the surface of the ground; 

 and if protected on the north by a plank or close 

 stake fence, the better. In bedding 40 or 50 bush- 

 els, a rich loose alluvial soil is selected, and plowed 

 or forked up to the depth of 10 inches; if deeper, 

 the better, and beds 4 feet wide are formed with 

 ditches or walks 12 or 14 inches wide between, 

 made by spading or shoveling the earth upon the 

 bed*. These walks give room for stepping around 

 in drawing the slips, without tramping the beds, 

 and also keep the beds well drained and free from 

 too much moisture and subsequent baking. This 

 plan is practiced by large producers for field culti- 

 vation, and the potato is not bedded until all dan- 

 ger from frost has passed^or the beds proteoted— 

 and enough is bedded to set the whole plantation at 

 the first drawing, which is generally about the first 

 of May, 



If a great number of slips are desired from one 

 or a few bushels, make a raised hot-bed. In the ab- 

 senoo of cottonseed, which we have and use here, 



fresh stable (horse) manure, well tramped to the 



depth of 4 to 6 inches, is as good, and upon which 

 pour as much water as the manure will absorb; 

 then cover the manure with rich, well-pulverized 

 mold, to the depth of 2 inches, upon which place 

 the tubers as close together as you wish, then cov- 

 er with two or three inches of like rich mold, and 

 let the bed have all the sunshine it can get, but let 

 no water, and especially no cold rain, fall upon it; 

 it must be protected with boards, plank, canvas, 

 or glass, when first made, which can be removed 

 on warm sunshiny days. When the sprouts begin 

 to crack the ground, add 2 inches more of earth. 

 This will give the sprouts a long shank, and upon 

 which numerous lateral or fibrous roots appear, 

 and which assist the plant in keeping alive when 

 detached from the potato. When the plant begins 

 to come through this second layer of earth, give 

 the bed a good watering; if the weather is warm, 

 use pond water or well water that has stood several 

 hours in the sun, or, what is still better, the suds 

 from the wash-tub. Sometimes weeds and grass 

 start before the plants, which may be removed 

 with a sharp weeding-hoe. 



When the plants are from 4 to 6 inches high they 

 can be removed from the bed, and set out; or, if too 

 cold, "heel" out, as nurserymen term it, in large 

 bunches, for a week or two, as they keep better 

 and produce more roots than if set out singly in 

 the garden or field. Before drawing the slips the 

 bed should be watered, which makes the drawing 

 easier, but do not use too much water, or enough 

 to make it muddy. The slips are drawn with the 

 right hand, and not too many at one pull, the left 

 hand pressing the potato, keeping it in place. 

 When but few are drawn at a time they break off 

 easily near the potato. If many are pulled at once, 

 the skin is broken and frequently a plug of the po- 

 tato comes with the slip, which materially diminish- 

 es the next supply. I have raised very nice pota- 

 toes from slips set out as late as the 1st of July. 

 The months of July, August, and September being 

 seasonable, potatoes may be harvested about the 

 1st of October. 



If your potatoes are sound, and the weather fa- 

 vorable, in 8 days after removing the slips the bed 

 will again be full and ready for the second drawing. 

 The bed will allow several drawings before the po- 

 tato becomes exhausted and refuses to send out 

 more sprouts or slips, if kept well watered in dry 

 hot weather. The plants should not be set in the 

 field until the cold rains are over. They become 

 chilled, and are never afterward vigorous, and will 

 not produce good-sized tubers. The preparation of 

 the soil, planting out, cultivation, and subsequent 

 digging and housing of the crop, is reserved for a 

 future paper if desired. W. P. Henderson. 



Murfreesboro, Tenn., Feb. 19, 1889. 



THE KIND OE SOIL TO PUT OVER THE MANURE IN 

 THE HOT-BED. 



On the hot-bed you use very sandy soil. I have 

 been in the habit of going down to the river (our 

 place has a long river-front of half a mile): along 

 this, sand is constantly deposited in time of fresh- 

 ets; the whole bank is made up of it. I take this 

 and put it on 4 to 1) inches deep, and lay the pota- 

 toes on the bed, almost touching each other, cover- 

 ing them over 2 or 3 inches. YOu are raising 

 cuttings really— you don't want food for plants. 

 What they want they can And in the sand, as there 

 is enough soil tq furnish alj they need. Inbreak. 



