270 THE BOOK OF VEGETABLES 



Depth. Set sprouts deeper than before. Cover 

 cuttings (usually laid nearly horizontally) all but their 

 tips. 



Sprouting. The potatoes (large or small) are usually 

 laid in a mild hotbed three to four weeks before frosts 

 will pass. Use whole tubers, cover with three to four 

 inches of light earth. When the sprouts are four to five 

 inches long, and well rooted, break them from the 

 tubers and set them in the field. Take subsequent 

 sprouts until no more appear. In the North seedsmen 

 sell sprouts. 



Cuttings are made from the tips of young vines, and 

 are taken six to nine inches long. 



Cultivate regularly until the vines cover the ground. 

 Allow the vines to root. 



Dig as soon as the vines are touched with frost. A 

 heavy frost is likely to spoil the tubers. 



Store in sand in boxes away from frost. In the 

 South the potatoes are stored in piles of from thirty 

 to fifty bushels, covered with earth but well ventilated, 

 usually with drain -pipes. 



Diseases are particularly various kinds of rot, for 

 which practice rotation, reject (in planting or storing) 

 all diseased plants, dig when the weather is dry, handle 

 with great care, and if possible in padded baskets. 

 Against soil rot use sulphur and kainit mixed, 300 to 400 

 pounds of each per acre, well worked into the soil. 

 Against black rot do not set in the field any affected 



