296 GARDENING FOR PROFIT. 



them being sold to private growers at the planting sea- 

 son. As the sprouts from the potatoes come up very 

 thickly, repeated thinnings are made, which is not only 

 profitable to the grower, but of great advantage to the 

 remaining plants, by giving them tlie necessary room to 

 grow. One grower in this vicinity informed me that last 

 season he sold upwards of $1,000 worth of plants from 

 150 sashes, which were sold at an average of $1.25 per 

 1,000. The profit from the cultivation of the plant in 

 the field is something less than that from Tomatoes, but 

 more than from the common Potato. 



In Southern New Jersey and further south, these beds 

 are not covered with glass, but with a light covering of 

 straw or coarse hay, to retain the warmth, but the 

 beds must not be thus made before the first week in 

 May, in New Jersey. This is removed when the plants 

 appear. In sections of the country where Sweet Potatoes 

 are grown even to a small extent, there are generally men 

 who make a business of growing the plants, which are 

 often to be bought as low as $1 per 1,000, and it will 

 be found better for the grower to purchase than to raise 

 them himself, if he has not the proper convenience of 

 sashes and hot-beds. The plants are set out in rows 

 three or four feet distant, and about two feet apart in 

 the rows, using a good shovelful of well-rotted manure, 

 mixed in, for each hill. They are always planted in 

 light, sandy soil, heavy soils being entirely uncongenial 

 to the nature of the root. As they advance in growth 

 the rows are hilled up with the plow in the same man- 

 ner as ordinary Potatoes, care being taken, however, 

 to prevent the vines, as they hang over, from rooting in 

 the sand. This is done by running along the vines, occa- 

 sionally under them, with the hand to break the young 

 roots and keep them from striking into the soil. If 

 this were not done it would divert the growth from the 

 main root, and the potatoes would be small and nearly 



