SWEET POTATO 



Propagation is effected altogether by meaus of shoots, 

 mostly those from the root. While blooms are often 

 found on the vines — particularly in the extreme South — 

 they are nearly always imperfect and invariably drop 

 from the pedicel. No ovaries ever develop. Therefore 

 the remarkable series of rapid transformntir.n^ „l>serv- 

 able in the Sweet Potato must be credit. d cntir. iy tn ;iii 

 active and persistent tendency in the plant im imci varia 

 tion — in effecting which it must la- almitir,! t^ ]„■ a 

 veritable Isaleidoscope. 



Propagation. — "Draws," or developed sprouts from 

 root-buds, supply the readiest and, indeed, the only 

 practicable meaus of propagation. Tubers of the last 

 season's crop are "btabkal" for this purpose; that is, an 

 outdoor hotbed is la.n-i i laK .] ;,, which the tubers are 

 placed in a sin^rli^ I ' ^M-ether, and covered 



with several inc-ln - in spring. In a few 



weelis the latent ijti. ■-. under tlie stimulus 



of the heat from i i : ,,- i.ianmv. will hare 



sprouted, and by i . ; .1 trotn frost has 



passed a dense !ri< ' . i -' will cover 



the bed. Thes.-ai^ i . at" rs, set by 



hand in the fielil in r">\ - t-iir 1.1 aiart-tbe plants 

 eighteen inches, generally, in tlie row. The size of 

 the bedded tubers does not affect the crop. As good 

 results are obtained from small as from large potatoes. 

 Even the smallest tubers or "strings" consistently 

 planted fn.ni v, ar to y.ar. produce as heavily as the 

 choiaavt >i I, itioii-.. Tliis is liiit ioo^ical If we remember 

 tliat ilie Suaai l'ot;[to is merely an enlarged, inaxial, 

 tlesliy root, ami lieavy lulais, when sprouted, should 

 have little; direct lemieucy tu produce a crop of corre- 

 sponding size, particularly when the subsequent culti- 

 vation is indifferent. 



For later plantings the "bed" may be supplemented 

 by cutting "slips" 12 or 14 inches long from the young 

 vines after growth commences in the row, and using 

 them as "draws." While the "slips" do not live quite 

 so readily as the rooted "draws," they are said to make 

 smoother and more sightly tubers — due, doubtless, to 

 the fact that bv this method the mycelium of the black 

 rot is not .■ i,,veve,l from the bed to the field. 



Soil oikI F, ,:./'.o?/e,(. — Although a gross con- 

 sumer of nitroi;;eii. tile Sweet Potato cannot advanta- 

 geously occupy "bottomland." With this reservation it 

 may be said that almost any land will produce potatoes. 

 Yet a light, sandy loam is best. Stiff, red soil is to be 

 avoided, as in it the potato splits, cracks and "rough- 

 ens," by reason of the suspension and sudden resump- 

 tion of growth during variable weather. 



The most approved fertilizer formula has been found 

 to be, per acre, about as follows: 



SWEET POTATO 



1755 



Nitrogen ( 

 Phosphoric 

 Potash 



equiv. 50 lbs.) 



Lbs. 



This requirement would be met 1 



High-grade acid phosphate 



Nitrate of soda 



Sulfate of potash 



Tot.^1. 



1,000 



Cottonseed meal has been found in many localities 

 preferable to sodium nitrate, as it is not so readily soluble 

 and therefore more gradual and continuous in action 

 through the season. It may Ite substituteil in the for- 

 mula for sodium nitrate in the ratio of two pounds for 

 one. Potassium muriate produces as heavy a crop as 

 potassium sulfate, but the Latter considerably increases 

 the starch content, which in southern - grown potatoes 

 is unusually large. For potash, kainit may be substi- 

 tuted in the proportion of four pounds of kainit to one 



of normal composition produces excellent Sweet Pota- 

 toes, hut is, of course, too variable in character and 

 too uncertain in quantity to be generally available. 



A complete summary of methods employed in Sweet 

 Potato culture would occupy too much space. They are, 

 moreover, too familiar to require repetition. Yet it is 

 desirable to call especial attention to certain points 

 which have been insufficiently discussed in previous 

 publications. First among these is the practice of 



premature planting. Against this tendency earnest 

 protest should be entered. It is the cause of much 

 loss. When an early market crop is not the object 

 there is no need for haste in putting out the di-aws, 

 since the season is abundantly long for leisurely plant- 

 ing, even in .June, after oats and wheat are harvested. 

 If pl.ante.l in .May, or earlier, with the long southern 

 season, tlie crop is likely to mature before the approach 



1 output — could 



2445. Sweet Potatoes. 



of cold weather permits the proper housing. The con- 

 sequent and usual result is a "second growth," which 

 predisposes the tubers to the inroads of the "soft rot," 

 which causes great loss. 



A deep, mellow soil-bed, with an extended season, un- 

 questionably will produce more and lai^er, but later, 

 tubers. Shallow preparation will yield a^ earlier crop. 

 It follows that the deeper the soil the earlier the plant- 

 ing may be effected. 



Preservation. — Were it possible to successfully and 

 inexpensively preserve througli the winter the Sweet 

 Potato crop, southern agriculture would be prac- 

 tically revolutionized. Land capable of producing a 

 bale of cotton, worth, say $40, will readily yield 300 

 bushels of potatoes, at 'half the cost for cultivation, 

 worth, at 20 cts. per bus., $60. This the planter would 

 gladly take, at harvest time, but there is then no market 

 at any price. Yet six months later he cannot supply the 

 demand at CO cts., or $180 per acre. These figures are 

 conservative. Even on laior soil, producing 500 pounds 

 seed cotton (one-third of a lal. 

 Sweet Potatoes -100 la' ' 

 be sold in the spring I ■ 



fully keep the tubers tl, I -_ aier. Many succeed 



in so doing, and reap tlu rmanl, but it is still an un- 

 solved general problem. .Methods, too, are variable in 

 the extreme — and this is the one notable exception to 

 the rule of uniformity prevailing in Sweet Potato cul- 

 ture. Climate and local environment seem here to play 

 an important part, and means of preservation found 

 successful in one place prove entirely unserviceable in 

 another— personality, even, entering as a factor in the 

 problem, one miin failing where another, by the same 

 methods, succeeds. Many ways have been devised and 

 practiced, some simple, some elaborate ; but each 

 said by its enthusiastic originator or advocate to be 

 absolutely infallible. 



Nothing has yet been found that will effectually 

 supersede the well-known popular method of "bank- 

 ing" or "hilling" in quantities of from 30 to 50 bushels, 

 according to the different local customs which prevail 

 in each community. The ordinary practice is to heap 

 the tubers in a conical pile around a perforated wooden 

 flue, covering thera with a few inches of dry pine- 

 straw, then a layer of corn stalks, and finishing with 

 three inehes of ilry sand and afterward two or three 

 inele - of rl ,\ ,,r .Hut stiff soil. The hill maybe con- 

 strn. t : . ! !. r shelter or out-of-doors. If the 



latii r ootect with a covering of boards to 



kee]i ,.,i .... I . I, ,,,; !i.. ugh not absolutely necessary. 



l>i...:,.s,.i a. ...I MaI,:die.-i.-A few of the most im- 

 portant maladies of the Sweet Potato— the cause, indeed, 

 of nine-tenths of the loss experienced in attempts to 

 winter the crop— will be noted in the probable order of 

 their importance: 



(a) Soft Bot (Mhizopus nigricans): This is the most 

 common form of rot, and the one that produces the most 

 damage. It is due to a fungus or mold on abraded 

 places, chiefly of the tuber, especially when the potatoes 



