OF ONE ACBE. 
135 
SWEET POTATOES. 
Like some other vegetables, these are generally sup¬ 
posed to require special soil and situation to do well, 
but with plenty of manure and good cultivation they 
can be raised of fine size and quality in any garden. 
As described in the chapter on hotbeds, the old pota¬ 
toes are planted in a warm bed, about the first of 
April, and when the ground is prepared, these are 
taken up and the sprouts broken off close to the 
potato. The potatoes should be buried two or three 
inches deep in the bed, which will give each shoot a 
bunch of fine roots when it is broken off. When the 
nights are warm, and the trees well out in leaf, plow 
a double furrow where the row of sweet potatoes is to 
be; that is, run the plow each way in the same fur¬ 
row ; then fill in two or three inches of fine manure, 
and plow the furrows back again, forming a ridge 
over the manure. In the centre of this ridge plant the 
sets about one foot apart; they must be kept well cul¬ 
tivated, and the running vines must not be allowed 
to strike root into the soil, or they will form lots of 
small potatoes, and none large enough for use ; some 
gardeners keep the vines coiled round the central 
plant, but the easier way is to throw the vines from 
two rows together, then cultivate the side left bare, 
and throw them back again, cultivating the other 
side ; after the first time they need not be moved but 
once for each cultivation, as the blank side can be 
cultivated and the vines thrown over on it, leaving the 
other side free, which can be cultivated first the next 
time it is done, and the vines thrown back. Throw¬ 
ing the vines over can be done very quickly by run- 
