KITCHEN-GARDENING. 119 



SWEET POTATOES. 



PoMME Du TERRE DOUCE. Couvolvulus batatas. 



Sweet Potatoes are growD to great perfection in the Southern 

 States, and may be raised in the vicinity of New York, by 

 means of a moderate hotbed, in which they should be planted 

 whole early in April, three or four inches deep, and about the 



same distance apart. In about a month they will throw up 

 sprouts. ^Yhen these are three inches above ground, part 

 them off from the Potato, which, if suffered to remain, will 

 produce more sprouts for a successive planting. Transplant the 

 sprouts into rich light soil, in rows four feet apart, and the 

 plants about a foot apart in the rows, or in hills four feet apart. 

 Keep them clear of weeds until the vines begin to cover the 

 ground, after which they will grow freely. In sandy ground 

 it is well to put a shovelful of rotten manure to each plant. A 

 moderate hotbed five feet square, put down early in the month 



