66 
THE CULTIVATOR 
nish the material for making- a delightful and wholesome 
beverage in the shape of potatoe beer. The sweet pota- 
toe also furnishes a large amount of the vegetable food 
of slaves in the southern States during the winter months, 
and though they are generally cultivated as a provision 
crop by most planters on almost every plantation, the ne¬ 
groes cultivate them in the ground which is allotted to 
them for their own private use. Such is the partiality of 
the plantation negroes for potatoes, as an article of food, 
that as soon as the season for digging arrives, they pre¬ 
fer an allowance of this root to any of the cereal grains. 
Indeed, it seems they were relished by our revolutionary 
ancestry, for when an embassy was sent by the British 
commander at Charleston, to Gen. Marion in his swamp 
encampment, that chivalrous commander, with his cha¬ 
racteristic hospitality, invited the Royalist to dine with 
him; the table was arranged, when he found “ flesh, fish, 
and fowl,” to consist of sweet potatoes alone. He straight¬ 
way returned to the British quarters, and expressed his 
opinion that it was hopeless to expect to conquer men 
who could fight for liberty on such fare as roasted pota¬ 
toes. Mr. John B. White, a talented and gifted son of 
Carolina, has made this scene the subject of a national 
painting which stands high in the world of art. In this 
picture, the negro seems delighted, more at the style in 
which his potatoes were roasted, than at the amazed 
countenance of the tory officer. 
To the negro, the potatoe is a blessing; for, to the 
known improvidence and carelessness of this race, it is 
particularly adapted, as it requires no culinary skill to 
make it both edible and palatable, simple roasting in the 
ashes being the best preparation the cook can give them. 
It is frequently prepared for the fable by baking, and 
makes good custards, puddings and pies; the latter equal¬ 
ing rhubarb pies, and made much in the same manner. 
If the soil has been exhausted by previous culture, the 
land should be manured. My father, Mr. John Summer, 
who has always been successful in the culture of pota¬ 
toes, observes the rule to manure broadcast, and for this 
purpose, has prepared in the farm yard a eompost, made 
by hauling in oak leaves, which with the admixture of 
the manure of horses and cattle, furnishes the proper ma¬ 
terial, and this, when sufficiently rotted, is spread broad¬ 
cast over the surface of the soil. The general plan, how¬ 
ever, in the south, and that which is considered easiest, 
is to cow pen the ground intended for potatoes, late in the 
summer. When the latter plan is followed, it should be 
continued during the early part of the winter, and follow¬ 
ed with frequent plowings, so that the manure deposited 
may not evaporate, or be washed away by rains. Plow 
up the land very deep in January, to which we would re¬ 
commend a subsoiling to those who have the proper im¬ 
plement, Plow again in February, and in March re¬ 
peat with a like plowing, immediately after which, bed 
up the land with a suitable plow four feet wide; upon 
these beds drop the potatoe slips, six or seven inches 
apart, covering them with a hoe, one and a half inches 
deep, with good mellow soil. 
It should be remembered that the proper preparation 
of the soil, is of very great importance to the future 
crop. This mode of planting in beds is usually termed 
ridging, and simply to cross the beds into equal squares 
with their width, we can form potatoe hills by drawing 
up the corners of the squares with a hoe. We have tri¬ 
ed both hills and ridges, and have no preference, though 
the soil when planted in hills is most likely to be wash¬ 
ed away by heavy rains. From three to four slips should 
be planted in the hill. As soon as the slips begin to 
sprout, the ridges or hills should be scraped off with the 
hoe, which will enable the young plants to come up rea¬ 
dily, and immediately after they have appeared above 
ground the beds should be plowed down carefully, and 
the plowing to be performed as close to the plants as 
they will bear, so as not to disturb the parent slip. This 
will yield to the young plants that warmth which is so 
much desired in this culture, and potatoes thus cultivated 
will stand the summer drouths better than those which 
have been cultivated otherwise. Frequent plowings, 
with a few times hoeing, is all that is necessary, until the 
vines attain a length which interferes with the plowing, 
at which period the ridges and hills should be drawn up 
with the hoe, fuller than they were originally, and in 
such a manner that they should be hollow at top. Great 
care should be taken not to draw any soil on the vines, 
and therefore whilst drawing up the beds they should be 
gently raised by the hands. Just before the vines reach 
the bottom of the beds, a plow should be run twice 
through the rows in order to give them mellow earth to 
root in. This will serve to sustain the vines in extreme 
drouth; and as the leaves are almost the only organs 
which feed tuberous roots, I would earnestly recommend 
an abandonment of the practice of topping potatoes or of 
tearing the vines with a plow, and particularly the prac¬ 
tice of making a calf pasture of the potatoe patch late in 
summer. 
Potatoes for planting should always be raised from cut¬ 
tings, as they are generally more succulent, and vegetate 
better in the spring than those which are raised from 
small potatoes, and hence large potatoes bringing stouter 
plants, are preferable to very small slips. 
The product per acre may -be variously estimated. 
From two to three hundred bushels are commonly pro¬ 
duced. My father has raised upwards of five hundred 
bushels of good potatoes to the acre, and from two to 
three hundred bushels has been an average crop with him. 
They were of the dark mottled variety usually called the 
Spanish potatoe, which for a general crop, we consider 
best, though any and every sort should be cultivated, 
which are regarded of good quality, and as there are per¬ 
haps more than twenty approved varieties, we are not ad¬ 
vocates of any particular one. The yams suit a sandy lo¬ 
cation, whilst the dark Spanish would succeed better on 
clay soils. There are several varieties with a red skin, 
which are much esteemed by some. The variety known 
as the “ Bermuda,” are perhaps the best early variety, 
and for this reason, a portion of the crop should be plant¬ 
ed of them, or some other favorite early variety. There 
appears to he only two distinct varieties of the yam, the 
yellow and white. Both should be cultivated by putting 
the slips in a bed, and drawing the sprouts as they ap 
pear above the ground, and planting them in ridges. Ii 
this way, but a comparatively small number of slips arc 
required of this variety; for all ether varieties of the 
sweet potatoe, we would advise to plant the root itself. 
The yam is easier preserved during winter, and late in 
spring; is of better flavor than any of the other varieties. 
My friend, Col. R. F. W. Allstont of Georgetown, 
during the past season, tried an experiment, which, as it 
is new, and upon the whole, has succeeded admirably, I 
will notice here. The land was laid off in beds four feet 
apart, and upon these the seed were planted, by laying 
them on the level ground eight inches apart, and covered 
over with “ tailings,” (the straw, &c. blown off in win¬ 
nowing rice,) to the depth of a foot. In consequence of 
the severe drouth of the past spring, the stand proved a 
very bad one, the sprouts appearing at the distance of 
one, two, and three feet apart. The prospect, he says, 
for a crop, was very meagre, until the month of July, 
when the plants which were standing, grew off with a 
vigor quite remarkable. In consequence of the drouth, 
a little earth was drawn upon the beds once, and the grass 
which showed itself was once picked off. The potatoes 
were taken up the second week in November, and they 
yielded 283 bushels of excellent roots to the acre, se¬ 
veral of which were exhibited at the Anniversary meet¬ 
ing of the State Agricultural Soctety, weighing from 4 to 
6 pounds. They were yams. 
Our plan for preserving potatoes is simple. A circu¬ 
lar bed is formed 8 or 10 feet in diameter; this is raised 
a foot above the surrounding surface to ensure its being 
dry; on which we place dry pine straw, corn stalks, or 
pine bark; in the centre of this, we set upright a plank 
tube with a great number of holes bored in the sides; 
around this tube the potatoes are piled up until the cone 
is completed within a few inches of the top of the tube, 
when they are covered up with corn stalks, pine straw, 
&c., and lastly with earth five or six inches thick. The 
tube may be closed in frosty weather by a wisp of straw. 
During mild weather it should be opened in order to al¬ 
low the heated air arising from decayed or bruised pota¬ 
toes to escape. With this, and the addition of a tempo 
