30 SWEET POTATO CULTURE. 



instructions of Mr. Allen, although on a large scale, 

 could be carried out with but little expense or risk. In 

 Virginia we should expect thousands and thousands of 

 plants with half the trouble. 



From the records of a Farmer's Club, in Middle 

 Georgia, we gather the following excellent directions for 

 l)ropagating the Sweet Pptato : 



" Selection of Seed. — First. Always select the largest 

 and best potatoes for seed. It is a great mistake to se- 

 lect small potatoes to bed, expecting to raise large ones. 

 In corn, in cotton, in small grain, all farmers save the 

 best for seed, and potatoes form no exception. With 

 them, as with all other crops, the best results are ob- 

 tained from the best seed, other things being equal. 



" Second. For your bed, select a good, warm, rich spot. 

 Take a spade and cut out a place, or trench, say from 

 fifteen to eighteen inches deep, and three feet wide. Fill 

 this with good stable manure, which should be saturated 

 with water (but not too much), after putting it in the 

 trench. Cover this with about two inches of pulverized 

 soil, and upon this spread the potatoes, just thick enough 

 to prevent them from touching each other ; cover them 

 from one-half to one inch thick with broom straw, to 

 prevent the potatoes from drawing out with the slips, 

 and, upon the straw, place a layer of soil from two and 

 a half to three inches deep. If the weather is cold, 

 make the soil deeper, and scrape it off when it moderates. 



" Third. To prepare the land for planting, run off your 

 rows from three and a half to four feet apart, with a 

 medium-sized sliovel-i)low, and in the bottom of this fur- 

 row deposit what manure you intend to use. On the 

 sliovel-furrow throw a list with a common one-horse 

 turning-plow, running on both sides of the furrow. 

 Leave the land in this condition until you have your 

 slips drawn and ready to set out, then complete the bed 



