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POTATOES 



plowed lands, in which the soil is soft and loose, the 

 fleshy roots are apt to grow too long, and not be large 

 enough in diameter, so the land for sweet potatoes is 

 usually plowed only five or six inches deep. Sweet 

 potatoes do best on light, sandy soil that is warm and 



moist. About a month 

 before the time to set 

 out the plants, they are 

 started by placing the 

 roots in a hotbed and 

 covering them with 

 about two inches of 

 soil. The young plants, 

 which grow up from 

 the roots, are pulled off 

 when they are four to 

 six inches high and 

 transplanted to the 

 field. The field is usu- 

 ally plowed into fur- 

 rows, and the plants 

 set out in the bottom of the furrow, either by hand 

 or by a transplanting machine, setting them about 

 twenty inches apart in rows, from two to three feet 

 apart. 



Cuttings. Sometimes the crop is grown through 

 the propagation of the new plants by cuttings or slips. 

 Pieces of the vine, from one to two feet long, are cut off 

 and planted in the soil, the same as the young plants 



SWEET POTATOES 



