280 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 



batatas, so valuable in the South. The seed end of 

 the potato (or the one having the most eyes) should 

 be selected for planting where early roots are de- 

 sired, as the experience of ttie Lancashire garden- 

 ers, who supply the London market, proves that po- 

 tatoes from these shoots will be ten or fifteen days 

 earlier than from sets from the other extremity. 

 From ten to sixteen bushels will be required to plant 

 an acre, according to the variety used, and the man- 

 ner of cutting or planting them. Potatoes usually 

 come to maturity whether planted early or late, or 

 from April to July, requiring a rich earth, full of 

 vegetable mould, rather moist than dry, and kept 

 clean and free from weeds. The common practice 

 is to earth them up once or twice at hoeing, but it is 

 not certain that this is the best method of cultiva- 

 tion, as some of the best crops on record were 

 • grown without hilling. The probability is, that 

 some varieties require earthing more than others. 

 From three to six hundred bushels may be obtained 

 from an acre. 



A moderate hotbed is required for the Sweet Po- 

 tato in this climate. In a bed of this kind, let some 

 roots be planted early in April three or four inches 

 deep. In a month sprouts will be thrown up, which, 

 w^hen three inches above the ground, are to be part- 

 ed off, and transplanted into a rich, light soil, in rows 

 four feet apart. If the potato is allowed to remain, 

 more shoots will appear, which may be afterward 

 set in the garden as before. They must be hoed till 

 the vines begin to cover the ground ; and, in all cases 

 where the earth is light, a shovel of manure should 

 be incorporated in the hill before the sprout is put 

 out. A peck of good sound roots in a bed, and the 

 shoots treated in this way, will usually give from 

 twelve to eighteen bushels of good roots, which are 

 highly prized for the table. 



The Rohan Potato, latelj'^ introduced from France, 

 promises to be one of our best varieties, its pro- 



