234 



POTATOES 



Propagating the Plants. The plants are started by sprouting 

 the potatoes in beds or by cuttings from the vines. Bedding 

 the potatoes is shown in figure 166. The seed potatoes are 

 seldom planted in the field, as in the case of Irish potatoes. 

 Hot-beds for starting the plants for small fields are heated with 

 fresh horse manure. About twelve inches of manure should be 

 well tramped down. The fermenting manure is covered with a 

 few inches of fresh sandy loam ; then the roots are placed as shown 

 in the figure. The roots are then covered with about three inches 



-AW, / 



<V ^ 



FIG. 169. Sweet potato bed where the young plants are grown from the seed-potatoes 

 before setting in the field. (New Jersey Station.) 



of fresh sand, or loose loam. The temperature is carefully watched 

 and when it reaches about 80 degrees F., it is kept at 80 to 85 

 until a short time before pulling out the plants; then it is lowered 

 to about 60 degrees. 



Each potato sends up many shoots, as shown in figure 44. 

 The first plants, when six or eight inches high, may be pulled out 

 and others will continue to grow and refill the bed (Figs. 167 and 

 168). A bushel of good roots will furnish about two thousand 

 plants of the first growth, but several times this many may be 

 taken from the bed later if desired (Fig. 169). 



