THE ILLIISrOIS FA.RMER. 



45 



was amended so as to read, and that he be 



presented with the silver medal belonging to 



the society, and then adopted. Adjourned. 

 <•. — ■ — 



Directions for Sprouting Sweet Potatoes. 



SyJ. W. Ten Brook, nf JioclviUe, Ind. 



In the first place, arrangements should 

 be made earl j in the winter, to have seed 

 patatoe?, manure, and all necessary ma- 

 terial for the hot-beds saved in due time. 



The location of the beds should be 

 near a street er public road, on dry ground 

 with a southern inclination, and conven- 

 ient to pond or branch water. 



The best material for a hot-bed is fresh 

 horse stable dung that has not been rot- 

 ted, and if mixed with one-fourth or half 

 its bulk of either saw- dust, fresh leaves, 

 tan or straw, the heat would be more mild 

 and durable, and loss liable to scald the 

 potatoes. 



About the first week of April, haul the 

 materials for the bed and mix them to- 

 gether in a ridge where the bed is to be 

 made, and as soon as it is hot, shake it 

 up thoronghly, mixing the cold and hot, 

 wet and dry portions together, forming a 

 bed on top of the ground running east 

 and west, which, when settled with the 

 fork, (not tramped,) should be fourteen 

 inches high, more or less, as there is a 

 greater or less porportion of manure used, 

 and six inches wider on all sides, than the 

 frame to be placed over it. 



Hot-bed frames should be made of 2 

 inch oak plank, franked together at the 

 ends with keys to be taken apart and 

 placed away to dry when not in use. — 

 They may be twciity feet in length, and, 

 for convenience, should not exceed four 

 in width. The front or south side should 

 be eight inches high, the north from eight 

 to twenty, according to the slope of the 

 ground on Avhich the bed stands, as the 

 top of the frame should have a pitch of 

 from eight to twelve inches to receive the 

 heat of the sun, and to shed ofi" the rain 

 freely. 



Temporary beds are made by setting 

 slabs, or plank, on edge, and filling in 

 the manure, &c., but such beds are difiicult 

 to cover, and if used the potatoes should 

 not be laid within six inches of the sides. 



Cover the beds four or five inches deep 

 with mellow earth, on which set the 

 frames and proceed to place the potatoes 

 two inches apart, placing the large ones 

 at one end, and the small ones at the 

 other. Cover them with three inches of 



good soil that is free from foul seeds,'and 

 will not bake; top soil from the woods, 

 and from around old logs would be pref- 

 erable. 



If the potatoes are very large and the 

 bed in good condition, they may be split, 

 placing the cut side down, but if the bed 

 should be either too hot, or too cold, they 

 would be more likely to rot. 



During the first ten days the beds 

 should be carefully examined by running 

 the hand down to the manure, and if it 

 becomes so warm as to feel unpleasant to 

 the hand, there is danger of its scalding 

 the potatoes, and should be cooled by wa- 

 tering, being careful not to apply too 

 much at a time. 



Pulling the plants before all are of a 

 proper size, is the cause of hundreds be- 

 ing destroyed. To avoid this the bed- 

 ding of the potatoes should be continued 

 a week or ten days, that the plants may 

 be pulled in succession. The potatoes 

 should be kept in a warm dry place until 

 they are bedded, as they will not bear a 

 lower temperature than forty degrees 

 without injury. 



Keep the beds carefully covered at 

 night, and in cold and wet weather ; and 

 when the heat declines, renew it by ad- 

 ding a lining of fresh horse dung to the 

 sides and ends of the bed. 



The best covers are made of strong, 

 oiled factory, spread on lath, so that they 

 can be rolled up conveniently. Oiled fac- 

 tory will adoiit the light, shed off the rain 

 better, and be cheaper in the end, than 

 any other covering. Tramped straw, or 

 mats made of rye straw, answer in the 

 absence of a better covering. 



The beds should De watered in the eve- 

 ning with a suitable pot, to keep the earth 

 in good growing condition. If spring or 

 well water is used, it should have stood 

 in the sun, or be warmed before using. 

 After the plants are up, light warm rains 

 would be beneficial, but cold and heavy 

 rains must be guarded against, as they 

 would soak into the beds and ruin them. 



Ditches should be formed and the earth 

 baked up around the beds to keep the wa- 

 ter from running under and chilling them. 



"\Ylitn the plants are three or four inch- 

 es high, and well rooted, they are ready 

 to draw, which is performed by pulling 

 them up carefully with one hand, while 

 thp potatoe is held firmly in its place with 



the other. 



When plants are to be sent a distance, 



j they should be set in shallow boxes with 



I their roots in wet earth, but must not be 



j 



packed in wet weather, nor have their 

 leaves wet, or they will rot immediately. 



Glass covered Hot-beds cause the 

 plants to spring up too tender and weak, 

 and such plants do not grow when set out 

 in the hill like those sprouted in open 

 beds. 



These plain directions I have furnished 

 to my sprouting agents, and those pur- 

 chasing seed in various parts of the coun- 

 try for the sprouting of several hundred 

 bushels annually, and. where the potatoes 

 were received in good order, and the di- 

 rections strictly followed, have never 

 failed to produce a good yield of strong 

 healthyplants, in the proper season, which 

 is from the first of May to the 10th of 

 June. 



Harvester and Stacker. 



This Ingenious machine the editor of 

 the Ohio Farmer has seen in operation, 

 and says it answers the purpose well. Its 

 proprietors are Murray, Van Doren & 

 Glover, Ottawa, Illinois. Wegive below 

 what they say of it : 



" This machine drawn by four horses, 

 is warranted, in the hands of ordinary, 

 careful men, to cut seven feet wide, and 

 discharge the grain into a molding box, 

 where one man forms the stack, with the 

 heads inside and the butts outside, binds 

 the same with two wires, and then dumps 

 it as a cart-load of earth is dumped, set- 

 ting the stack firmly on its base, perfect- 

 ly thatched and ''shingled," to defy any 

 harvest storm. 



"Shocks. — The shocks or stacks are 4 

 by 4 feet on the ground, and 6 teet high. 

 From four to six of them make an acre of 

 ordinary gram. Their style and appear- 

 ance is tjyunnetrical, and gives evidence 

 of perfect power to resist storms. 



"Binding. — This is done with fine wire, 

 which costs only about twelve to twenty 

 cents per acre, and will last many sea- 

 sons. 



" Straw. — The length of straw can be 

 cut to suit. Where it is of little val- 

 ue, it can be cut short; it may then re- 

 quire three bands or wires to the shock, 

 but there will be fewer stacks to the acre, 

 and the threshing can be done half a cent 

 cheaper per bushel than where longer. 



" Curing. — The past season has been 

 very wet, yet grain cut in the milk and 

 dough by this mach nehas cured perfect- 

 ly in every instance. There are no thick 

 bands to rot under, and if there were, no 

 wet could get there. Of 140 acres cut by 

 this machine, (the only one yet built, ) not 

 a single shock took damage or had to be 



