76 The Garden. 



ordinary seasons and in favorable situations be put into the 

 ground from the tenth to the twentieth of March. 



Eor raising Irish potatoes (as they are invariably called 

 there) at the South, the plan published by Mr. Peabody of the 

 Soil of the South is undoubtedly a good one. We have tried 

 the same mode with fair success at the North, using here, 

 however, less straw. Mr. Peabody's dh-ections are substantially 

 as follows : 



"As soon after Christmas as possible, plow or spade up the 

 plot of ground designed for the potato patch, and lay it off in 

 furrows two feet apart, and eight or ten inches deep. Fill 

 these furrows with decomposed straw or leaves. Divide each 

 potato once, and place the sets, cut side downward, upon the 

 straw ; now level the ridge made by the furrow, covering seed, 

 straw, and all, and then scatter straw evenly over all to the 

 depth of eighteen inches or two feet. 'No further culture is 

 required. In the diyest seasons the yield will be greater than 

 when planted in the ordinary way. Many have failed in this 

 mode of culture because they have not applied half straw 

 enough." 



2. The Sweet Potato — Convolvulus Batatas. 



This best of all esculent roots belongs to the convolvulaeece or 

 bind-weed family. It is a native of the East Indies, but grows 

 in perfection in our Southern States. It is raised in large 

 quantities in Delaware and New Jersey, and even farther 

 north, but the quality of the tubers is inferior to that of those 

 produced at the South. 



A dry, loamy soil, inclining to sand, is best for the sweet 

 potato. It should be well manured. The special manures 

 indicated by an analysis of the root are potash and the phos- 

 phates. 



Where the season is sufficiently long to mature it, the sweet 

 potato may be propagated by cutting the seed into slips, and 

 planting them where they are to grow ; but at the North the 

 sprouts must always be started in a hot-bed. Place the pota- 



