December, 1908. J 



547 



Edible Products, 



do not depend upon commercial fertili- 

 zers, but merely apply from 200 to 300 

 pounds to each acre as a supplement to 

 the organic matter and natural fertility 

 of the soil. Others apply from 300 to 1,000 

 pounds according to the condition of 

 the soil, while a few growers use a ton 

 to the acre. The general rule is to 

 apply the fertilizer in the row where 

 the crop is to be grown, but where large 

 quantities are used it should be distri- 

 buted at least ten days before planting 

 and thoroughly incorporated with the 

 soil. An application of 1,000 pounds of 

 high-grade fertilizer placed in the row 

 at planting time has been known to 

 injure seriously or kill the plants. Hand 

 and one-horse distributors, which merely 

 sow the fertilizer in the row, are in use. 

 Others are designed to scatter the ferti- 

 lizer and work it into the soil, and 

 tools that mark the land, sow the 

 fertlizer, and throw up the ridges at 

 one operation can be obtained. For the 

 best results the fertilizer should be 

 applied at least ten days before planting, 

 or a portion of the fertilizer may be 

 applied a month or more in advance and 

 the remainder at the time of preparing 

 the land for planting. 



Use of Hardwood Ashes as a 

 Fertilizer. 

 Hardwood ashes are desirable for vise 

 on sweet potato land and may be applied 

 at the rate of from 1,200 to 2,000 pounds 

 to the acre. The value of wood ashes 

 depends upon how much they have 

 become leached, but hardwood ashes 

 should contain from 6 to 8 per cent, 

 of available potash. Wood ashes also 

 contain considerable lime. 



Use of Lime on Sweet Potato Land. 



Where large quantities of any green 

 crop are ploughed into the soil there is a 

 tendency to sourness, and occasional 

 applications of from 1 to 2 tons of lime 

 to the acre are beneficial. The presence 

 of an abundance of lime in soils devoted 

 to the growing of sweet potatoes hastens 

 the maturity of the crop and increases 

 the yield. On poor soils the lime and 

 potash work together to produce pota- 

 toes of uniform size and shape, but on 

 rich or alluvial soils the tendency is 

 toward the production of over-large and 

 irregular roots. The lime should be 

 applied the previous season, or at least 

 the autumn before planting the land to 

 sweet potatoes. 



Propagation of Plants. 

 The more common varieties of the 

 sweet potato have for a great many 

 years been propagated by cuttings, or 

 sets, taken either from the potatoes 

 themselves or from growing vines, and 



as a result the plants have ceased to 

 flower and produce seed. The greater 

 portion of the commercial crop is grown 

 from sets, or "draws," produced by 

 sprouting medium-sized potatoes in a 

 warm bed of soil. In the Southern 

 States the seed potatoes are frequently 

 cut iuto pieces in the same manner as 

 Irish potatoes and planted in the row 

 where they are to mature. Where 

 several plants appear in one hill they are 

 thinned, and those removed are used 

 for planting other land. In the South 

 Atlantic and Gulf Coast States the 

 sweet potato is frequently propagated by 

 making vine cuttings. A comparatively 

 small bed of seed potatoes is planted 

 quite early, and the sets so produced 

 are used to plant a small patch from 

 which vine cuttings are taken later by 

 the cartload tor planting large fields. 

 In the southern parts of Florida and 

 Texas and on the South Sea Islands the 

 potatoes may remain in the soil from 

 year to year, being dug only as required 

 for use, those remaining over produ- 

 cing the sets for the following season's 

 planting. 



Where only a small area of sweet 

 potatoes is to be grown for home use, the 

 necessary plants can generally be secured 

 from some one who makes a business 

 of growing them. If an acre or more is 

 to be planted it will in most cases be 

 more economical to prepare a bed and 

 grow the plants. The method of start- 

 ing the plants will depend upon the 

 locality and the acreage to be planted, 

 the essentials being a bed of warm earth 

 and a covering to protect the young 

 plants during the early springtime. 



Selection of Seed. 



The care of the seed potatoes during 

 the winter is discussed later under the 

 head of storage of sweet potatoes. 



The potatoes that are to serve as seed 

 from which to grow the plants for the 

 next season's crop should always be 

 selected at the time of digging and 

 housing the crop. Fur seed purposes it 

 is the custom to select the medium or 

 under-sized potatoes, such as are too 

 small for marketing. Those potatoes 

 that will pass through a 2-inch ring or 

 can be circled by the thumb and first 

 finger of a man having a hand of 

 average size are used for seed purposes. 



The seed potatoes should be uniform 

 in size and of the shape desired in the 

 following year's crop. The seed should 

 be free from cuts, bruises, decay, or 

 disease of any kind. Throughout the 

 handling of the seed potatoes they 

 should not receive any treatment that 



