404 GARDENING FOE THE SOUTH. 



day as you would for cabbage plants, or do it in the 

 evening. The sweet potato is readily transplanted, and if 

 holes are dug in the mellow bed, deep enough to admit 

 the plant, and the slips, set upright therein, have the 

 earth washed in about their roots by pouring water upon 

 them from the open spout of a water-pot, finishing the 

 operation by covering over with a coat of dry, mellow 

 earth, brought up and pressed pretty closely about the 

 slips to keep the moistened earth from baking, very few 

 will die, even if they are set out at mid-day; but as the 

 plants would be checked, a cloudy day, or just at night, 

 should be selected for the operation. 



This is an excellent mode of transplanting all plants, 

 and is of great use both in the vegetable and flower gar- 

 den. If the slips are not washed in as above when taken 

 up in dry weather, it is of great advantage to grout them, 

 as well as all other plants you wish to transplant. This is 

 done by immersing the roots in water thickened with rich 

 earth. It refreshes the slips, and gives them a thin coat- 

 ing of earth as a protection against the atmosphere. Draw 

 the slips when about three or four inches high, by placing 

 the left hand on the bed near the sprout to steady the 

 root, and prevent its being pulled up with the sprout, 

 which is loosened with the right hand, taking care not to 

 disturb the fibrous roots of the mother potato, for this 

 continues to afford a succession of slips, which may be 

 successfully transplanted in Georgia until the first of 

 July. At the North they should not be put in later than 

 the first of June. 



After the piece is planted, go over it again in a few days 

 to plant over any place where the slips may have failed. 

 As soon as the ground gets a little weedy, scrape it over, 

 loosening the earth and covering up the weeds, but be 

 careful not to injure the young slips. Faithful cultivation 

 and a frequent moving of the soil are as beneficial to this 



