28 SWEET POTATO CULTURE. 



the greater the necessity for especial care and attention to 

 preserve the Sweet Potato crop from decay, and tliis is 

 also true as regards seed-beds. 



Mr. S. J. Allen, of New Jersey, an extensive cultivator, 

 in sandy soil, gives the following comprehensive direc- 

 tions, as practised by himself, which doubtless would 

 be etiually proper for the latitude of New York and 

 further North : 



" The potatoes usually selected for seed are of short, 

 compact shape, rather below medium size, and in this 

 latitude are ' sprouted ' in hot-beds, and the sprouts, 

 when well-rooted, set in the field. A mild hot-bed 

 should be made for them about the 10th of April. Tlie 

 bed should run east and west. Dig a trench twelve or 

 fifteen inches deep, six feet wide, and of any desired 

 length. A bed one hundred feet long is large enough for 

 about thirty-five bushels of seed, which should yield at 

 first pulliijg sixty thousand plants, and ten days' later 

 tliirty thousand more. Board up the south side of the 

 trench about eighteen inches high ; the other three feet. 

 Manure for the hot-bed should be thrown into a compact 

 heap ten days before needed, being turned over once or 

 twice in the interval, to insure an even commencement of 

 lieating, and it should be of such a character as to be 

 sure to heat, but not too violently. A good proportion 

 is, two-thirds good fresh horse, and one-third cow-stable 

 manure. It should be placed evenly in the bed to the 

 depth of t\\»elve or fourteen inches, upon a layer of two 

 inches of coarser manure, and be neatly levelled with 

 a fork, and finished by pressing down with a wide 

 board or door ; it must be covered with three inches of 

 sandy soil, upon which the seed potatoes are to be placed 

 evenly, about half an inch apart, and settled to one-half 

 their thickness ; then sprinkle with water, and cover 

 with three inches more of sand. The whole must then 

 be covered with a coating of coarse hay, two feet deep, or 



