68 



Richard Frotsclier' s Almanac and Garden Manual 



S]U)\vllaki 



THE SWEET POTATO. 



ConvoJriilus batatas. 



The Sweet Potato is next to corn the most important food crop in 

 the South. They are a wholesome and nutritious diet, good for man 

 and beast. Though cultivated to a limited extent on the sandy lands 

 of New Jersey and some of the middle States, it thrives best on the 

 light rich lands of the South, which bring their red and golden fruits 

 to greatest perfection under the benign rays of a southern sun. It is a 

 i:)lant of a warm climate, a child of the sun, much more nutritious than 

 the Irish Potato on account of the great amount of saccharine matter 

 it contains, and no southern table should be found without it from the 

 first day of August till the last day of May. Some plant early in 

 spring the potato itself in the prepared ridges, and cut the vine from 

 the, potato when large enough, and plant them out ; others start the 

 potatoes in a bed prepared expressly Cor that purpose, and slip off the 

 sprouts as they come up, and set these out. The latter method will 

 produce the earliest potatoes; others who set out the vines, say that 

 they make the largest tubers. In prei>aring the land the soil should 

 be thoroughly pulverized, the ridges laid offabout five feet ai)art, well 

 drawn up and rather flat on top. If every thing is ready, and time for 

 planting has arrived, do not wait for a rain, make a paste of clay and 

 cow manure; in this dip the roots of the slips and press the earth 

 firmly around them. Old slips are more tenacious of life than young- 

 ones, and will under these circumstances answer best. Watering 

 afterwards, if dry weather continues, of course, will be beneficial. 

 Otherwise plant your vines or slips just before or after a rain. Two 

 feet apart in the row is considered a good distance. The ridges 

 should never be disturbed by a plow from the time they are made 

 until the potatoes are ready to be dug. 



