78 The Sweet Potato 



the center of the bed through to the manure. This may 

 be done by using a crowbar which is pushed into the 

 ground and then removed. Such an operation, aided by 

 the removal of any covering, will rapidly lower the tem- 

 perature of the bed. It nearly always happens that 

 after a few days some parts of the bed will become too 

 hot and other parts too cold. The cooler places should 

 have the sash left over them during the heat of the day 

 so that the sun's rays may be concentrated on them while 

 the hotter places may be shaded. Even though a ther- 

 mometer is not used, an experienced grower carefully 

 examines aU parts of the beds every day by thrusting 

 his finger into the sand between the potatoes and below 

 their level. If a comfortably warm temperature can 

 be maintained at this point, it is satisfactory. 



Watering. — Water should be applied abundantly as 

 soon as the potatoes are bedded. After this the bed 

 should be liberally watered two or three times each week 

 until the plants begin to form leaves. After the leaves 

 form, the bed will need water every day. It is best to 

 water the bed about three or four o'clock in the after- 

 noon so that the surface of the soil and leaves will dry 

 off before night. If this is done, no trouble will be ex- 

 perienced from the damping-off fungi. The method of 

 heating will in a measure influence the amount of water 

 necessary. A steain- or furnace-heated hotbed will re- 

 quire more water than will an ordinary manure-heated 

 bed. Water should always be applied in a spray rather 

 than in a solid stream. This may be accomplished by 

 means of a sprinkling-can, with the spray-nozzle on the 

 hose or by means of regulating the spray with the hand 

 as it comes from the hpse without any nozzle. Many 

 growers prefer regulating the water in the latter way, 



