AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
183 
THE CULTIVATION OF THE SWEET POTATO 
AT THE NORTH. 
We have just opened our box of seed po¬ 
tatoes, laid down last fall, and our success 
has been so complete, that we are con¬ 
strained to say a few words about the culti¬ 
vation and keeping of this valuable esculent, 
for the benefit of our Northern farmers. 
This root, of course, can be grown to bet¬ 
ter advantage in the latitudes south of Nevv- 
Jersey, than farther North, and for those 
who live in the immediate vicinity of sea¬ 
ports, it may be no object to grow them. 
They can be furnished from the South at 
about 75 cents a bushel, and so long as com¬ 
mon potatoes command the same price, it is 
no doubt, better economy to grow a root 
that is perfectly acclimated. But there are 
multitudes of farmers living remote from- 
market towns, who seldom see the sweet po¬ 
tato, and who can only have them in plenty 
upon their tables by raising them. This, we 
are persuaded, can be done in most parts of 
the Northern States, with a very little man¬ 
agement. It has been grown in the town of 
Ledyard, Ct., for thirty years or more, even 
without the aid of a hot bed to start them in 
the spring. It is a common thing there, for 
the farmers to grow their own supplies, 
though they are all near tide-water. We 
saw upon the grounds of Stephen Stoddard, 
Esq., of Ledyard, a piece of sweet potatoes, 
last summer, that would have done cerdit to 
a Southern plantation. He spoke of them as 
a common crop, and by packing them in 
chaff, succeeded in keeping them through the 
winter. 
PRESERVING SEED. 
This is a somewhat difficult thing, and it 
is, perhaps, more owing to this difficulty than 
to any other cause, that the cultivation of 
this root is not more general at the North. 
The tubers selected for this purpose are the 
smallest, or those about the size of a man’s 
finger. These must be packed in some sub¬ 
stance that will absorb all moisture, and pro¬ 
tect them against the changes of the weather. 
Sometimes they are packed in sand, and kept 
near the furnace in the cellar, or near the 
kitchen fire. We packed our's in plaster and 
wheat chaff. We designed the plaster to ab¬ 
sorb the moisture in case of decay, and the 
chaff as a safeguard against .cold. They 
were placed in a room over the kitchen, and 
had the benefit of the fire in the kitchen 
stove, which was kept up constantly during 
the cold winter nights. It is important that 
they should be put into the packing-box in a 
dry state, and without any bruises or defects. 
About three-fourths of those putin came out 
in good condition; the rest were decayed, 
probably owing to bruises. The plaster pre¬ 
vented the spread of the decay to the sound 
tubers. 
It is now quite common for nurserymen to 
keep the young sets of this plant for sale, and 
those who are near a nursery may easily 
procure the young plants at the time of set¬ 
ting, without the trouble of preserving them. 
The tubers are also always to be had in this 
city, for about $-2 a bushel, in the spring, at 
retail, and there is no difficulty in getting fine 
plants from the marketable potatoes. 
TREATMENT OF THE TUBERS FOR PROCURING 
SETS. 
The best method is to put them in a mode¬ 
rate hot-bed, from the middle of April to the 
1st of May. In two or three weeks, the 
sprouts will be up sufficiently to transplant. 
The longest shoots maybe removed with the 
thumb nail, without removing the tuber from 
its bed. In a few days another growth of 
sprouts will come forward, which may be 
used for a second plantation, or for supply¬ 
ing any hills that have failed. They should 
be set out where they are to grow, from the 
middle to the last of May. If there is no hot¬ 
bed at hand, the tubers may be put in hills 
prepared for them, about the 1st of May. 
THE BEST SOIL AND ITS PREPARATION. 
A sandy soil is best adapted to this crop, 
though we have succeeded well on a heavy, 
gravelly loam. The preparation of the hills 
is a matter of a good deal of importance. 
These should be four feet apart, each way, 
so as to give ample room for the running of 
the vines, which often reach two or three 
yards. The hill should be raised eighteen 
inches to two feet high, and should be well 
manured. The droppings of neat stock, well 
mixed with loam or muck, are said to be the 
best fertilizer. But we have not found this 
indispensible. The object in raising the hills 
is to give them the full benefit of the sun and 
air during the heat of summer. If the spot 
selected for this crop has a southern slope, 
it is all the better. 
CULTIVATION. 
In hoeing this crop, care should be taken 
to increase rather than diminish the height 
of the hills. The vines, when they com¬ 
mence running, should be examined once in 
two weeks, and not be suffered to make 
roots at the joints. They immediately be¬ 
gin to form tubers wherever they strike root, 
and if suffered to remain, they will form a 
multitude of small tubers at the expense of 
large ones in the hill. By carefully lifting 
the vines occasionally, they will concentrate 
all their energies upon the tubers already 
formed, and will perfect them, both in size 
and quality. 
GATHERING THE CROP. 
They will continue to grow until the frost 
kills the vines. They should be dug on the 
morning when the first frost is seen, if not 
before. If they are suffered to remain after 
the vines are killed, the quality of the tubers 
is damaged in some way that we are not able 
to explain. This fact, we presume, is no¬ 
ticed by all who have cultivated this plant at 
the North. The vine is an ornament to the 
garden, and we would cultivate it for its 
beautiful leaves, even if it yielded no roots. 
The tubers are highly nutritious, and are re¬ 
lished by most persons who have once eaten 
them. We have found them quite, as pro¬ 
ductive as the common potato, and think 
they amply repay the extra care needed to 
bring them to perfection. Our crop was five 
bushels upon a small patch of garden soil, 
that would have done well to yield the same 
quantity of Irish potatoes. The quality is, 
perhaps,notquite equal to thebest Carolinas, 
but is as good as the Jerseys. The demand 
for them in the home market was lively 
enough, and the young folks, like Oliver, 
were continually longing for more.— [Ed. 
HOW TO PLANT SQUASHES, MELONS, &c. 
Squashes, Melons, and Cucumbers require 
a peculiar treatment in order to yield the 
best results. They will, indeed, grow and 
bear fruit if they are stuck down almost any¬ 
where, amidst other crops ; but we have al¬ 
ways succeeded best in giving to these vines 
a place by themselves, and in preparing hills 
specially for their growth. A southern as¬ 
pect is the best, and a warm, sandy or grav¬ 
elly loam. But a sandy soil is apt to be de¬ 
ficient in moisture at the time when it is 
most needed to perfect the fruit. We there¬ 
fore have it well trenched, and compost 
worked in, at least eighteen inches deep. 
To prepare a hill, dig a hole thirty inches 
deep and three feet across ; fill this half full 
of compost, made of three-fourths muck or 
peat, and one-fourth stable manure. Guano 
may be substituted for the manure in the 
compost; fill the remainder of the hole with 
the surface soil, and elevate the surface a 
few inches above the common level. About 
the middle of May plant the seed. When 
they come up, sprinkle the young plants with 
a powder made of four parts plaster of Paris, 
and one part of Peruvian guano, well mixed. 
This is best applied with a dredging box. It 
should be put on immediately after every 
shower, if it rains twice a day. It will keep 
the bugs off, but only while it remains upon 
the leaf. The proportions are important. 
If there is a trifle too much guano in the 
mixture it will destroy the leaf. The design 
of the large hole filled with muck, is to re¬ 
tain the moisture for the vines while in the 
most active state, in July and August. 
Squashes treated in this way will do their 
best, and pay for the extra trouble. The best 
Squashes and the only ones that ought to be 
raised for the table, are the Boston Marrow 
and the Acorn. They are just the right size 
for use in the family, and are of the best 
quality. The true Valparaiso is of good qual¬ 
ity, but is too large. While Squashes are so 
easily raised, we doubt the economy of 
raising Pumpkins. A Squash is much rich¬ 
er, and will grow larger. The French seeds 
sent out from the Patent Office, the last two 
years, have done very well, and have made 
a sensation at the Fairs, by their enormous 
size. They frequently reach a hundred 
pounds, and sometimes two hundred. They 
will be valuable for feeding cattle, and per¬ 
haps for use in hotels and boarding-houses. 
Black Spanish, Green Imperial, Mountain 
Sweet, and the Orange, are good Water¬ 
melons. The Nutmeg and the Green Bay 
are the best among the green-fieshed Melons 
that we have tested. Both are superb, and 
ought to be upon every farmer s table in 
their season.— Ed. 
« My dear Polly, I am surprised at your 
taste in wearing another woman’s hair on 
your head.” 
“Mydear Joe, I am equally astonished 
that you persist in wearing another sheep's 
wool on your back.” 
