ioo TRUCK FARMING 



mend in all cases to at least apply this side application.* It keeps 

 the vines much healthier and stronger and produces finer, 

 smoother and a much greater quantity of potatoes per acre. 



There is no doubt in my mind whatever but what in the near 

 future great quantities of this vegetable will be grown for ship- 

 ping to the Northern markets in midwinter from this territory. 

 At the present day, other vegetables are so largely in demand 

 and their production is followed by such remunerative results, 

 that we have not gotten down to growing these crops which would 

 probably not bring us so much per acre. However, as the sweet 

 potato crop in this vicinity can easily be made to produce 400 or 

 500 bushels per acre, and as they are usually sold locally for 75 

 cents per bushel (in fact, they often bring $1.50 per bushel), they 

 pay very well indeed. 



They are seldom attacked by insects. I have known of one 

 case, however, in which a field was almost annihilated by an in- 

 vasion of the army worm. An application of arsenate of lead, 

 however, in this case destroyed these insects entirely. The vines 

 are not usually pulled up or loosened as is done in the Northern 

 country ; they are simply allowed to grow until they have matured 

 their potatoes to such a size as the market may demand. Great 

 care should be taken in this country not to let the potatoes grow 

 too large, otherwise they are apt to become old and tough and are 

 frequently bored and bitten into by different kinds of worms. 

 The cut worm and wire worm are very disastrous in this respect. 



They can and, without a doubt, will be grown in later years 

 as a cattle food and possibly to manufacture alcohol, for if they 

 be left to grow for a few months after they have matured to 

 marketable size, enormous quantities can be produced per acre. 

 Instances are known where they have been grown to weigh as 

 much as fifty pounds or more to the single potato. These, of 

 course, are unfit for food, being more or less woody and tough 

 and lacking flavor, but as a poultry food they are very fine indeed. 



In selecting vines to plant it is a wise precaution to take them 

 from a thrifty bearing field, for if taken from an old worn out 

 patch they have often run out to such an extent as to be almost 

 worthless. 



* See last part of Chapter VI. 



