| Show SWEET POTATOES ARE QUITE profitable 4 rz 31 I 1 z 4 sj 4 FA 21 ff T 1 vaa a J V K cwm y vf AU 3 J 2 X sll t 1 e i S M 1 1 i y r W aa j rf df awl sweet potato farm in delaware that nets about per acre my by C S mil IER time was when it was generally be laened that good sweet potatoes could only be grown in a certain section of new tersey jersey and owing to this belief people are yet buying jersey sweets most ot of which are grown in delaware virginia and other southern states the jersey jersel potatoes are ot of very fine quality but those grown in dela ware georgia and some parts of texas teas are almost it if not quite as good climatic conditions do not ampre clabey influence the quality ot of sweet potatoes that Is due ver largely to soil and methods of culture this potato requires a sandy soil with ver little clay in the first six inches the soil should be rather compact high dry and vv well ell drained it can be used tor for sweet potatoes tor for from six to ten years without ana an rotation but growers find that after the first and second years the crop improves on the same land it if the plot is clean we do not plow the land but cut it up with the bar row three to tour four inches deep thor hughly pulverizing and leveling it in order to have the proper size shallow preparation and culture must be ob s served e rv ed we use slip seed for bedding pota toes from which to grow plants which ts Is the first crop from the vines or slips cut off the growing plants and set out about the latter part of july our potatoes grow from three to four our inches long and about one and a halt half inches in Oi ameter to assure success in bedding the must have kept perfectly and there must be no rotten ends or black spots the sprouting Is done in the hotbed either with manure or fire heat so as to raise the temperature tempera tuie of the soli soil to good summer heat about thre inches of good loam Is placed in the bottom the potatoes potatoes laid carefully on this and covered with fill three inches of clean sand when the plants are from four to six inches long a boie the sand they are ready to set out we plant in ridges three feet apart four inches above the level of the land to insure a full crop we plant between may alst 1st and the esth tho the plants are set 16 inches apart in th the 13 row it is rather slow work planting by ban 1 but w with till a machine a steady team of horses a man to drive and two boys to place the plants we can plant about 50 or five acres a day while the plants are young tion and hoeing should be very shallow and just often enough to keep the soil clein clean and loose if cultivated deeply the potatoes will be stringy long and of poor quality then again shallow cultivation permits the soil to dry out more quickly after a hard rain and arness Is so essential to quality that every effort should be ba made to insure it the only manure we use Is a ruin oral eral fertilizer applied in the row at the rate of 1000 pounds per acre this contains 3 per cent nitrogen 7 per cent phosphorus and 8 per cent potash vie use find ground flah fish or nitrate of soda ac acid IP ph Os phate and sulphate of potash wo we mix our own fertilizer the nitrate of soda Is applied when nhen the lines are from 6 to 20 inches long at the rate of pounds to the acre and it Is placed on an the low ionn near the plants this gives the plants a quick start causing the crop to set bet at one time and makes the roots of uniform size with few small email ones thus in connection with the min eral fertilizer we me use and in the at absence of organic mitter matter we prevent the tendency sweet potatoes have of setting all through the season which is very cry detrimental to successful cropping proper handling is just as important as cultivation for the first sales in august we w e do not take tho the potatoes potato ob out of the ground any taster faster than wl w can sell them when stored in sheds shed and barns the exposure to the light and changes in temperature quickly ruin the product proper grading Is also important we have grades the firsts are drime the seconds are good but nt smaller lin aller size and thirds are too small tor for food and used for stock teed feed |
