PROPAGATION OF THE SWEET POTATO. 25 



the yard (not pine-mould) and powdered, all lumps being 

 removed. In this region the beds are put down from the 

 tenth to the thirtieth of March, and later cold beds with- 

 out cover are made. The potatoes are generally put down 

 so as not to touch each other, to prevent rot, if it com- 

 mences in one, from extending to others. The open 

 space above the mould, is covered with hay or pine trash, 

 to exclude the air, and keep all the heat in the bed, and 

 the cover put down close, which is well packed around 

 the edges with the same material. In twenty-four hours 

 the heat may commence rising, and careful attention 

 should now be given, lest the heat be too great. If the 

 weather is good, the bed should be opened about nine 

 A.M., to the warm sun, and closed again at three P.M. 

 If above a milk- warm heat, water should be applied daily 

 for a week or ten days, and if very great, holes should be 

 made with a stake or crowbar, put down every twelve or 

 fourteen inches, and then withdrawn. When the shoots 

 are about three or four inches high, and the weather is 

 warm, the first plants can be drawn carefully, one at a 

 time, with the right hand, the left hand holding the 

 ground firmly, to prevent the potato from being disturbed 

 or drawn up ; a sidewise pull is best. In five weeks from 

 putting down beds, the plantmg should commence, in 

 order to allow room for the second and third growth of 

 sprouts, planting after each shower during the month of 

 May, and to the middle of June, and on northern slope? 

 to the first of July. 



The old plan of reproduction is given in " The Com. 

 plete Gardener and Florist." — 'SSweet Potatoes may b(i 

 raised in the vicinity of New York by means of a hot- 

 bed ; they should be planted whole, early in April, three 

 or four inches deep, and about the same distance apart. 

 [Instead of being placed three or four inches apart, as 

 above directed, they need be only half an inch apart, 

 just so as not to touch each other.] In about a month 

 2 



