SWEET POTATOES 
263 
heat of 80 degrees F. the seed potatoes may be bedded 
out. The soil layer over the manure in the hotbed should 
be composed of sandy loam soil that has been screened. 
The potatoes are placed carefully in the bed so that they 
will not touch one another. They are then covered with 
three inches of loam soil that has been screened for the 
purpose. The bed is then slightly moistened and the 
glass or canvas covers placed on. On clear warm days 
the covers over the bed should be removed and the sets 
Fig. 187.—Cutting sweet potato vines with a rolling cutter before digging. 
aired and watered. If this work is carefully done, 
the sets should be ready for transplanting into the 
open field between April 15th and May 1st. The grower 
should bed out from 1 1-2 to 3 bushels of seed potatoes 
to produce enough sets to plant one acre of land. Many 
growers in the South plant out a small patch of sets and 
make cuttings or slips from the vines and set the remain¬ 
der of their soil. 
Laying Out Soil for Planting.—As soon as all danger 
of frost is over and the sets on the potato bed are large 
