SWEET-POTATOES. 143 



inches of sand for the bed, cut the potatoes lengthwise, 

 placing them thickly on the bed, cut side down, and cover- 

 ing with two inches of sand, which may be increased to 

 four inches or more as the plants appear. The bed must 

 be kept moist but not wet, and airing be attended to, 

 especially with the hot-bed when the plants are up. As 

 the first shoots are pulled, more will \>e formed and grow 

 up. Immense quantities of plants are annually sold, and 

 there are few localities in which a bed of plants can not 

 be disposed of at paying prices. The potatoes for seed 

 are usually obtained from the South, as they require a 

 warm, dry, and even temperature to preserve them. Seed 

 may, however, be saved at the North by digging them on 

 a dry day, placing in a loft for a few days to dry, after- 

 wards packing in barrels with dry sand, and storing in a 

 dry, warm place, always handling with the greatest care, 

 to avoid bruising. 



Soil, Preparation, and Planting. The sweet-potato 

 requires a light soil, more sandy than otherwise, which 

 should also be dry and warm. Plow the ground deep, 

 harrow well, and mark out shallow furrows four feet apart. 

 In these place well-rotted stable manure or compost, a 

 good shovelful to a yard of row; plow the earth from 

 both sides to and over the manure, forming a ridge ; even 

 the surface thereof, and set the plants deeply over the 

 manure, fifteen inches apart. 



The land may be marked out four feet each way, a 

 shovelful of manure placed at the angles, and the earth 

 raised over it, forming hills, in each of which set two 

 good plants. In cither case it is well to have the land 

 prepared and set the plants after a rain. It is hardly safe 

 to plant in this section before the first of June. The after- 

 cultivation consists of hoeing the ridges and cultivating 

 between, occasionally disturbing the vines to prevent 

 them rooting at the joints. 



Marketing, Northern-grown sweet-potatoes do not 



