IMPLEMENTS USED IN SWEET POTATO CULTURE. 35 



the soil was too wet ; in such condition it will bake hard 

 around the plants. In general, women or boys drop the 

 sets at the proper distance (say fifteen or eighteen inches 

 apart), each followed by the hand who plants. 



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CHAPTER X. 

 IMPLEMENTS USED IN SWEET POTATO CULTURE. 



The tools required in the production of the Sweet 

 Potato crop are very few and inexpensive. The usual 

 farm tools, such as plows, harrows, spades, shovels, 

 weeding-hoes, rakes, etc., are used for this purpose. 

 Thomas' Smoothing Harrow is recommended in the early 

 stages of cultivation. For setting the plants the Jer- 

 sey growers are very expert. With a pair of wooden 

 tongs, made of laths, they pick up the plant, insert it, 

 and with a gentle tap the plant is set without the fa- 

 tigue of stooping. 



Mr. Allen, of New Jersey, uses a light Scraper and 

 Marker, drawn by one horse, which not only levels and 

 brushes off the top of the ridges, but effectually destroys 

 the first crop of weeds, and leaves the tops of the ridges 

 just right for planting — and the work is done with great 

 rapidity. 



Another device for this purpose, described on another 

 page, is still more simple and inexpensive. It consists 

 of a piece of scantling, two by three inches, and six feet 

 long, drawn by a horse walking between two rows. The 

 marking off is expeditiously done by a boy with a forked 

 stick, with the points fifteen to eighteen inches apart, or 

 the desired distance apart on the ridges may be guessed 

 at by a good dropper. 



