62 SWEET POTATO CULTURE. 



Deep plowing is not rccooimended for sweet potatoes. 

 In deeply tilled soil the roots strike downward, and the 

 result is long, spindling potatoes instead of short, com- 

 pact ones. Wiiile the plowing should be shallow rather 

 than deep, the ground must be thoroughly worked and 

 sufficiently fertilized. Well decomposed stable manure 

 is generally conceded to be the best fertilizer for this 

 crop. 



The ground should be warm and all danger from frost 

 past before the plants are set out, but it is all the better 

 for being prepared and marked off a little in advance of 

 the season for transplanting. Growers in diffe ent sec- 

 tions differ in their opinions as to the merits of hill and 

 row systems ; good results have been gained from both, 

 and the general impression appears to be that larger 

 roots are obtained by the hill system, while cultivating 

 in ridges produces the greatest number of potatoes. 

 Most cultivators now mark off the ground and set the 

 plants with a view to cultivating the crop by horse- 

 power. If the plants are to be set in hills, three feet 

 apart each way will be found a convenient distance ; if 

 to be cultivated in ridges, mark off the ground with a 

 plow in rows about four feet apart. The ridges are usu- 

 ally made by throwing two furrows together over the 

 manure that has been spread in a small furrow or mark- 

 ing for the row ; then, with a hand-hoe, the ridges are 

 smoothed and their tops patted down. When the time 

 arrives for setting the plants, the crown of the ridge is 

 pushed aside, one hand is thrust into the soil, while the 

 other inserts the plants about sixteen inches apart in the 

 rows. When the hill system is practiced, the rows are 

 made into small hills with light hoes ; the pointed tops 

 of these hills are knocked off at the time of ])lanting, so 

 that the plants may be set in fresh earth. Some of our 

 progressive farmers use long, slender, wooden tongs, in 

 which the plant is held, to be inserted in the hole made 



