Culture of the Sweet Potato. 275 



Art. XIV. On the Culture of the Sweet Potato [Convolvulus 

 Batktas), as practised in the Neighbourhood of New York. By B. 

 W. Strong, Esq. Communicated by Messrs. G. Thorburn 

 and Son, Nurserymen, New York. 



Sir, 



We subjoin a few remarks on the cultivation of this plant, 

 as communicated to us by a friend on Long Island, B. W. 

 Strong, Esq., a gentleman who is unwearied in his exertions 

 to improve the quality of the vegetables cultivated for the 

 New York market. 



" Good crops of sweet potatoes may be raised in the neigh- 

 bourhood of New York, by a little attention to the nature of 

 the plants. Sweet potatoes are produced from the joints of the 

 vine, and not from the old potato. To make them fruitful 

 these joints must be covered with earth, and the potato forms 

 there. Towards the end of April, make a hotbed of horse 

 manure, about 18 in. thick ; on the manure put 3 in. of earth ; 

 on this earth plant the seed potatoes 3 in. apart, and cover 

 them 4 in. deep with earth ; when the sprouts they send up 

 are 3 in. above the ground, draw them out with the hand, and 

 ti'ansplant them (as you would cabbage plants) in soft, warm, 

 rich ground, in rows 4 ft. apart, and put the plants about 

 1 ft. apart in the rows ; keep them clear of weeds until the 

 vines begin to cover the ground, after which their leafy 

 nature will enable them to smother all weeds. If the hotbed 

 be made early in April, the early sprouts will be ready for 

 transplanting by the 10th of May ; the bed will continue to 

 throw up a second and third succession of sprouts, all of 

 which will afford good potatoes, if planted out any time before 

 the end of June. A hotbed 5 ft. square, with a half peck of 

 seed potatoes, produced last season a succession of sprouts 

 which yielded 15 bushels of sweet potatoes." 



The way the slips are preserved through the winter, and 

 which are procured by planting late (as is done for small 

 onions to set out for an earl^ crop), is thus: — They are taken 

 up in the autumn before severe frosts, and, as we have been 

 told by some of our Carolina friends, placed in a pit dug in 

 front of the kitchen hearth, and very carefully buried in sand 

 made perfectly dry. 



We cannot see why, with a little attention, the sweet potato 

 should not be grown with success in the south of England. 

 At all events, we think the experiment worth making, and 

 should they not succeed to perfection, they would no doubt 



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