244 THE POTATO 



early and the sets so produced are used to plant a 

 small patch from which vine cuttings are taken 

 later by the cartload for planting large fields. In 

 the southern parts of Florida and Texas and on the 

 South Sea Islands the potatoes may remain in the 

 soil from year to year, being dug only as required 

 for use, those remaining over producing the sets 

 for the following season's planting. 



"In the warmer portions of the sweet-potato- 

 growing district the seed should be bedded when 

 danger of frost has passed. In the northern por- 

 tion of the area the seed should be placed in the 

 hotbed from the 20th of March to the 10th of 

 April, after the temperature of the bed has fallen 

 to 80 degrees or 85 degrees F. and become regular. 



"As a general rule sweet-potato plants are set in 

 the field shortly after a rain. In order to avoid 

 delay in planting, the hands should begin to get 

 out the sets as soon as the rain ceases falling and 

 place them in crates or baskets ready for transpor- 

 tation to the field. The sets are not all produced 

 at once, and only those that have formed good 

 roots are ' drawn, ' the others being left until later. 

 In * drawing ' the sets the seed potato is held down 

 with one hand while the plants are removed with 

 the thumb and finger of the other hand. It often 

 happens that five or six plants will cling together 

 at the base, and these should be separated in order 

 to avoid loss of time in the field. Where plants 

 are to be set with a transplanting machine it is 

 essential that they should be in the best possible 

 shape in order that they may be handled rapidly 

 by the boys who feed the plants into the machine. 

 The roots should all be kept in one direction, and 

 if the tops are long or irregular they may be 

 trimmed off even by means of a knife. 



