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GARDENING FOE THE SOUTH. 



Mayti YaBlt — Larger in size, white flesh, not so sweet, 

 but more farinaceous. Keeps equal to the last, and is dry 

 and floury ; the most prolific of all. 



Culture. — ; Sweet potatoes like a rich, sandy loam, per- 

 fectly friable, and, as indicated by analysis, abounding in 

 potash. The soil should be well enriched. A dressing 

 of wood ashes would be very beneficial to this crop. 

 Next to potash it demands a supply of the phosphates. 

 They do well on fresh lands, if well broken up and friable. 

 At the South, the Spanish potatoes are generally planted 

 w T here they are to remain, like the Irish potato, whole or 

 cut up into sets. But both these may, and the yams must, 

 be propagated by slips, as they grow larger and yield 

 more abundantly. 



To raise slips, select a sunny spot sheltered by fences 

 or buildings, and lay it off in beds four feet wide, with 

 alleys of the same width between them ; slope the beds a 

 little towards the sun, dig them well, and add plenty of 

 well-decomposed manure, if not already rich. Do this in 

 Georgia in February, or early in March. At the North, a 

 gentle hot-bed will be required, and it will be found very 

 useful in every locality, in order that the slips may be 

 ready as soon as all danger of frost is over. 



Choose smooth and healthy-looking potatoes, and lay 

 them regularly over the bed an inch or two apart, and ^ 

 cover them about three or four inches with fine soil ; rake 

 the bed smooth, and it is done. In large operations, ten 

 bushels of potatoes should be bedded for every acre of 

 ground. 



While the slips are sprouting, prepare the ground to 

 receive them. It should be rich, or made so with well- 

 rotted manure, and thoroughly and deeply broken up with 

 the plow or spade. Lay it off just before the slips are 

 ready, in low, parallel ridges or beds, the crowns of 

 which are three and a half feet asunder, and about six 

 inches high, on which plant out the slips with a dibble 



