ON FARM GARDENING. 117 
be made of wood, and a height of 8 or 10 feet will afford 
ample draft. Either wood or coal may be burned, but prefer- 
ably wood. 
The planting distance in the field is about 3 feet by 2, 
the young plants being set upon ridges. It requires about 
9,000 plants to the acre. The work must not be done until 
the ground is warm. The crop is ready in from sixty to 
ninety days. 
Cultivation — Shallow cultivation is all that is required. 
The vines at the North are not permitted to take root along 
their length, but in the South they are sometimes allowed to 
do so, and additional tubers thus secured. At the North 
the vines are lifted and turned, to clear the way for the 
cultivator and to prevent rooting. 
Enemies. — Black rot is one of the worst of sweet potato 
diseases. Stem rot is another serious enemy. The best 
treatment for these and other fungous troubles is prevention, 
and the best prevention is a healthy soil. It is, therefore, 
best to go to new land occasionally. 
Harvesting. — The common practice is to plow the sweet 
potatoes out of the ground just after the first frost has 
touched the vines. The tubers must be exposed to the air 
for a time, and partially dried. They are prepared for mar- 
ket, if wanted immediately, by rubbing off the soil and sort- 
ing into two sizes. 
Storage — At the South one of the several methods of 
winter storage is to build a light wooden flue of lattice work, 
and pack about it a conical-shaped heap containing about 
forty or fifty bushels of sweet potatoes. Straw is used as a 
covering, with earth upon the straw, the earth to be in- 
creased as the weather becomes colder. Over the entire 
heap a rough shed is erected to turn the rain. The tor» of the 
flue or ventilator is closed with straw in really cold weather. 
The spot must be a dry one. 
