132 Southern Gardener^s Practical Manual 



cable. Drop these twelve to fifteen inches apart in the 

 drill, and cover with two furrows of a plow, which will 

 place not less than four inches of soil above the tubers. 



If, after the plants appear above ground, a frost is 

 threatened, cover them with a thin coating of soil (if 

 the soil is not too wet to be stirred) by running a turn- 

 plow eight or ten inches from the plants on each side of 

 the row. This covering need not be removed after 

 danger is past, as the plants will grow through it. 

 Cultivate level and shallow until the plants are eight or 

 ten inches high, when soil should be worked to the 

 plants. After this is done and the soil has been moist- 

 ened by rain, apply a mulch between the rows to retain 

 moisture. This done, no further cultivation will be 

 necessary. If the mulch is not applied, stir the surface 

 between the rows after each rain to form a soil mulch to 

 retain moisture. Mulch applied before danger of cold 

 nights is over, increases the risk of injury by frost. The 

 tubers may be bedded like sweet potatoes in early spring, 

 and the sets drawn and transplanted. Mix soil and cow 

 manure with water to the consistency of paste. Dip the 

 roots of the plants into this before transplanting, and, if 

 the soil is dry, use a pint of water to each plant. Open 

 a hole in the prepared soil; pour in the water and, 

 while the water is still there, set in the plant and draw- 

 fine earth to it until the moisture is covered. Planted in 

 this way, they produce an early crop of large tubers — 

 finer and smoother than from the usual method, but not 

 so many to the hill. They produce no small potatoes 

 from the sets. I have grown them successfully in this 

 way for the fall crop also. Fifty years ago it was the 



