30 
Colorado Experiment Station 
Varieties :—White Bush Scallop, Golden Summer Crookneck, 
Hubbard, Essex Hybrid, Delicious. 
SWEET POTATOES 
Sweet potatoes, while not adapted to all parts of Colorado, 
can be successfully grown at the lower altitudes in the southern 
part of the State. 
Sweet potatoes are propagated by means of sets, which are 
grown in large numbers from the smaller-sized potatoes placed 
in a hotbed a few weeks before planting time. A manure hotbed 
should be prepared in the usual way and the manure covered with 
about 3 inches of sandy soil. The potatoes are placed on this just 
far enough apart not to touch and covered with 3 inches of good 
sandy soil. This hotbed should be made about April 1st to 15th 
and the plants set in the field as soon as danger of frost is past. 
The slips are ready to pull when about 6 inches high, and, 
after the first crop of sets is removed, a second crop will come up 
to take its place. They are removed by holding down the mother 
root with one hand and pulling the sets off with the other. 
The plants are set about 15 inches apart in rows 3j4 or 4 feet 
apart. 
Thorough cultivation to prevent weed growth should be given 
until the vines begin to run, after which horse-drawn implements 
cannot be used. 
Harvesting and Storing ,—The crop is harvested at about the 
same time as Irish potatoes, and in much the same manner. Some¬ 
times a turning plow equipped with two rolling colters which cut 
the vines on either side of the row is used. The potatoes are 
handled as carefully as possible to avoid bruising. 
According to a bulletin issued by the Georgia Experiment 
Station, sweet potatoes can be kept over winter by the following 
method: As soon as the tubers are harvested, they are brought 
into the storage house and put in bins. The temperature is then 
raised to 90° or 100° F. and held there for seven to ten days, in 
order to dry out the excess moisture. The temperature is then 
gradually lowered to 50° or 60° and maintained at that point. 
This is the only satisfactory method, so far developed, by which 
sweet potatoes can be successfully kept during the winter. 
TOMATO 
The tomato, being a tropical plant, requires a long growing 
period, and any method by which the growing period can be 
lengthened in this climate will prove an advantage. This can best 
be accomplished at the beginning rather than at the end of the 
season. Seed may be sown in flats and placed in the hotbed from 
