1914. 
THE KURA.L N E W-VOEEEE 
626 ' 
SWEET POTATO QUESTIONS. 
In regard to space required for grow¬ 
ing 1,250,000 plants, we have two 
furnace-heated beds. One of these is 
50x12 feet (600 square feet). We have 
run it several years, and it produces on 
an average 50,000 or 60,000 plants at 
one pulling. It is customary here to 
make but one pulling, because all are 
working for early potatoes. It might be 
advisable to make two pullings, but we 
could not count on as many plants from 
the second pulling as from the first. By 
firing our bed very hard at the start and 
keeping it quite moist we could get more 
than 60,000 plants from 600 feet of bed 
space, but the plants would be too spind¬ 
ling for best results. Then too, even if 
we did force them we could not depend 
on getting the potatoes to sprout heavily 
every year. Therefore when making only 
one pulling I would allow about 12,000 
square feet of space for producing 1,250,- 
000 plants. 
We have used furnace-heated beds and 
manure-heated beds. Both work well un¬ 
der favorable conditions, but the furnace- 
heated beds have the preference when it 
comes to growing any quantity of plants. 
For less than 20,000 I would use a 
manure-heated bed. Above that quantity 
I would use either a furnace-heated bed 
or one heated with hot water. I believe 
this will be the future heating system 
for sweet potato beds, because it avoids 
all risks from fire and gives a uniform 
heat that is impossible to secure in any 
other way. 
I lately met a grower who made a hot- 
water heated potato bed last Spring. 
This grower has been very successful in 
the past with the furnace-heated bed, 
but his new bed gave him much better 
results than he ever secured with the 
furnace-heated beds. His bed was about 
50x12 feet; there was no deep pit under 
the bed, no sleepers or boards to fall 
down on the flue and catch fire. lie was 
very careful to get a good grade; then he 
dug a pit at the lower end of the bed 
for his heater, which was a small second¬ 
hand one formerly used in a brooder 
house, costing $27 when new. From 
this were run regular two-inch hot-water 
pipes; first a flow, then a return, alter¬ 
nating across the bed. As I recall it 
there were about 10 lines of pipe laid 
about 14 inches apart, and they must 
have been eight or 10 inches below the 
line of the potatoes. The pipes were in 
the sand, but a layer of old well-rotted 
manure had been placed below a layer 
of soil before the potatoes were put in. 
An expansion tank was located at the 
high end of the bed. A farmer-plumber 
did the work, and the cost to the grower 
was approximately $50 for the pipe and 
piping. This together with the heater 
made a total cost of $77. It took one- 
half ton of coal to heat the bed this sea¬ 
son. If making another bed he would 
make but one change, and that in the 
heater. He would have one a little larger, 
and then he could heat two beds with 
the one stove, and at the time feel that he 
had a little extra heat in reserve if need¬ 
ed. The larger stove or heater would 
cost him $40, which with the piping 
would make a total cost of $90 for the 
outfit. 
A furnace-heated bed requires an 
arched brick furnace four feet long, 
feet wide and 2% or three feet high, 
and one or more flues of brick or tile to 
run two-thirds the length of the bed, be¬ 
sides heavy sleepers to go across the bed 
every five feet and enough boards to 
make a floor upon which the bed proper 
is made. The cost of this will depend on 
local conditions, cost of lumber, etc., and 
can best be figured out by the builder. 
The hot-water heated bed requires only 
enough lumber for the sides and ends. 
If a farmer wants to grow potatoes for 
only two years, I believe the furnace- 
heated bed will be the cheapest for him, 
provided he takes every precaution to 
avoid risks from fire. But for a per¬ 
manent investment I feel sure the hot 
water would give best results. A furnace- 
heated bed can be built on level land, 
provided the land is far enough above the 
water level so the furnace will not be 
flooded during the Spring rains. Enough 
soil can be scooped off to make a good 
grade of one to two feet, which is suffi¬ 
cient to get a good draft. I have never 
seen a steam-heated bed, and cannot say 
how it would be best to run the pipes. 
If the manure is intended for the 
field it will he entirely practical to 
gather it and hold it until March. Before 
commercial fertilizers came into exist¬ 
ence, manure was" used altogether, in this 
section, for sweets. It was hauled in the 
Fall, composted, and then turned once 
or twice before distributing it in the row 
in the Spring. Now manure is used 
broadcast, preferably for the crop pre¬ 
ceding sweets, and fertilizer used in the 
row for sweets. Wood ashes are costly 
here and we have never used them, but 
we are convinced that sweet potatoes 
need a large amount of potash, and they 
want a sweet soil. Wood ashes contain 
both lime and potash and should be ben¬ 
eficial. The amount of fertilizer used 
here depends on the soil, but about 700 
pounds to the acre of a 1.65-9-10 mixture 
distributed in the row is an average ap¬ 
plication. The fertilizer is distributed 
with a drill having a tooth behind to mix 
it with the soil. Most growers use the 
one-horse drill. Some, however, use a 
larger one, which takes four rows at a 
time. We secure far better results by 
distributing the fertilizer before ridging 
and have one or two good rains on it 
so as to wash out the injurious salts that 
will otherwise burn the plants. The 
burning from fertilizer is worse on very 
light sandy soil than on a sandy clay 
loam. 
Sweet potatoes do not give best yields 
on acid soils and I would, by all means, 
use lime and I would buy the kind that 
gave me the most actual lime for the dol¬ 
lar. When figuring this I would include 
the labor for hauling, which will vary 
greatly with local conditions. We have 
used both ground limestone and burnt 
lime. Both give good results. We use 
2,000 pounds of ground limestone and 
from 800 pounds to 1,000 pounds of burnt 
lime per acre on our sandiest soils for 
sweets. Last year we could get ground 
limestone at $3.20 a ton f. o. b. our sta¬ 
tion and burnt lime at $5 a ton. We 
used the limestone. This year we can 
get burnt lime at $5 a ton and ground 
limestone at $4 a ton f. o. b. our station, 
and we have ordered the burnt lime. 
We shall have to go to Missouri in or¬ 
der to be shown how to grow sweet po¬ 
tatoes without cultivation. We begin 
to cultivate when plants are well rooted, 
and continue once a week, if possible, 
until vines cover the ground. When 
planted in hills they are cultivated both 
ways, which reduces hand hoeing to a 
minimum. We have regular sweet pota¬ 
to harrows with vine turners attached, 
and set so as to scrape the sides of the 
ridges. When planted in drills the har¬ 
row can be used one way only and more 
hand work is necessary. Ordinary gar¬ 
den hoes are used by some growers to 
break the crust close to the plant, but 
a more satisfactory tool is the scalper, 
which is merely a small iron rod bent in 
the form of a triangle with the base flat¬ 
tened so as to have one sharp edge. This 
is put in a hoe-handle at a slight angle 
and used much the same as a hoe. It 
is light, more effective and an inexper¬ 
ienced hand is far less likely to cut off 
the small newly set potatoes than with a 
hoe. The scalper can be made for about 
25 cents. When planted in hills the 
usual distance is 2)4 feet each way, al¬ 
though some set plants 2)4 feet one way 
and 24 to 2S inches the other way. In 
drills the rows are 2)4 feet apart and 
plants 18 inches apart in the row. 
There seems to be a great deal of con¬ 
fusion concerning the varieties of sweet 
potatoes, and quite frequently the same 
variety is called by two or three names 
and I have not, as yet. been able to get 
them satisfactorily straightened out. In 
regard to Yellow Jersey and Big Stem 
Jersey, I have always considered the 
Big Stem to be a form of Yellow Jersey, 
slightly larger in size, both in potato and 
leaf, a heavier yielder of longer spindle- 
shaped potatoes, later in maturing and a 
trifle more susceptible to attacks of stem 
rot. TRUCKER, JR. 
Littt,e Willie’s mother had made him 
a fine new pair of knickers, but the little 
boy complained that they were uncom¬ 
fortably tight. “They’re tighter than my 
skin, mummie!” he declared. “Don’t be 
silly, dear,” remonstrated his mother. 
“They can’t possibly be tighter than your 
skin.” “But they are, mummie! Because 
I can sit down in my skin ; but I can’t sit 
down in these trousers!”—Melbourne 
Leader. 
Bought his Studebaker when he came 
home from the civil war-using it yet 
W HEN David Hire, of Syracuse, Ind., got home from the 
Civil War he bought a Studebaker Farm Wagon. That 
was 48 years ago, and the same wagon is still hauling fifty bushels 
of wheat at a load to market. 
Here is what Mr. Hire has to say about his Studebaker wagon. 
“It may interest ycu to know that I have in my possession a Stude¬ 
baker Farm Wagon bought just after I returned from the war, 
about 1866,1 think. It carried a guarantee to haul 50 bushels of 
wheat and though it has been in constant use since it was bought, 
it is still good to haul that amount to market. I hope to use it 
for many years yet, as it is in good condition.” 
A REAL 
That is the way with Studebaker wagons. 
Built of air dried timber, with inspections at 
every step of manufacture, they outlast the 
ordinary wagon from twenty to thirty years. 
You mav be offered a wagon at less cost than 
a Studebaker, but consider that the cheaper 
wagon may last five or ten years, while a 
VETERAN 
Studebaker will last a lifetime. That makes the 
Studebaker the better investment, doesn’t it? 
**Build not the cheapest, but the best” has 
been the policy of Studebaker for over half 
a century. 
You can’t make a mistake if you buy a Stude¬ 
baker Farm Wagon, Buggy or Harness. 
STUDEBAKER 
NEW YORK 
MINNEAPOLIS 
South Bend, Ind. 
CHICAGO DALLAS KANSAS CITY DENVER 
SALT LAKE CITY SAN FRANCISCO PORTLAND. ORE. 
Adv. 2006 
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