MISCELLANEOUS VIEWS ON MANAGEMENT. G9 



CHAPTER XXII. 



MISCELLANEOUS VIEWS ON THE MANAGEMENT OF 

 THE SWEET POTATO. 



Of course on this subject, as on the culture and man- 

 agement of corn and tobacco, there must be various opin- 

 ions, doubtless originating, in part, from difference in soil 

 and climate. ''We desire," says the ''Eural Messen- 

 ger," of Petersburg, Virginia, " only to touch on two or 

 three points about which there is some diversity of prac- 

 tice, but points upon which a very large part of the suc- 

 cess of potato culture depends. 



" Setting Out. — First, as to the method of setting 

 out the young plants or ' draws.' Most farmers wait for 

 a shower to do this, believing there is no sort of show for 

 potatoes put out in dry weather. This is a mistake. 

 Besides losing time, which is an important item in this 

 crop, the 'draws' seldom grow off as well after a shower, 

 especially if the soil hardens rapidly, and very often they 

 remain for several days, sometimes more than a week, in 

 a yellow, sickly state, and perhaps after all many of them 

 die. Now, it is always best to plant everything in a 

 freshly stirred soil. And if, when the bed has a goodly 

 number of 'draws' fit to set, the ridges are thrown up, 

 and little holes made the proper distance apart for setting 

 sweet potatoes (fifteen inches), a plant put in each hole, 

 and a little water poured in upon the roots, and after the 

 water has all soaked into the soil the dry earth is drawn 

 up to the plant, very few of them will die. In this way 

 you plant in a freshly stirred soil, the ridge or hill is 

 moist all through and loose and mellow, the pouring on 

 of the water settles the roots into the soil and gives the 

 plant moisture enough to start it into growth, and the 

 drawing up of the dry soil around the plant prevents the 



