224 VEGETABLE GROWING PROJECTS 



3. What are the objections to the use of very small or very large tubers 



jor seed pur-poses ? 



W-VG : 440. Fi : 24-31. 



4. How should the seed be kept until time to start the plants f 



W-VG: 448. C:428. Fi:80. 



5. Starting plants. — In the extreme South sweet potatoes are 

 sometimes cut into pieces which are planted in the open very 

 much in the same manner as white potatoes. However, in most 

 regions, and especially in the North, the plants are started under 

 cover in some kind of forcing device or house. A well-constructed 

 hotbed (W : 44) will serve the purpose. Small, inexpensive 

 houses, covered with glass or canvas, heated by steam, hot 

 water, or manure, are often employed. It is nearly always neces- 

 sary to supply a certain amount of bottom heat. Beds are made 

 with a few inches of fine, sandy soil. The tubers, either whole 

 or cut in halves with the cut surfaces down, are placed on the bed 

 so that they do not touch each other, covered with about three 

 inches of fine sandy soil, and watered. At the time of bedding the 

 temperature of the bed should be about 80° F. and be gradually 

 dropped to about 60° F., covering a period of six weeks. Plants 

 will start from the tubers. In six weeks they should be well rooted 

 and of proper size for setting in the field. The plants started 

 in this manner are referred to as "slips," "draws," and "sets." 

 They may be removed and a second lot of plants grown from the 

 same tubers or seed pieces. 



1. Explain how sweet potato plants are started in practically all 

 districts. 

 W-VG : 441-444. L:255. C:423. Fi: 24-31. 



6. Preparing the soil. — W: 222. While a thoroughly drained 

 soil is essential to the culture of sweet potatoes, we should bear in 



