Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1851-04-03
cultural.
Sweet Potatoes.

WE give this week mode OF cultlva.
ting sweet potatoes, which the writer pro.
nounces a very successful one. This
may be true our principal object however
is to call attention to the matter, as be.
ing by no means an unimportant part oi
every farmers business, and to elicit il
possible, something exactly suited to us
here at home, in the cultivation Of this
important article of diet. There are men
in Edgefeld, who make as good crops OF
this useful and nutritious root, as the
world can show; and, to judge from some
specimens we saw purchased in our mar.
ket few days ago, they also understand
to perfection the art Of preserving them
when made. We hope some such person
will give us plain, simple and direct ac-
count of this mode of proceeding. 1t
will be thankfully received, and may be
useful to many others besides ourselves.
-[ED. Adv.
ss From the Southern Planter.
Mr.. EDITOR In compliance with my
promise and your request, / will now try
to lay before your readers my mode of
raising potatoes, and shall do it in as few
words as possible; it will be, however,
necessary to be explicit, to be fully un.
derstood, and most especially in these
days ofswild theory without experience.
A young farmer WIN start 70 Farming, and
it may be he is just from college, and is
well skilled in language and would dis
dain to ask information of an experienced
farmer because he sometimes has come
for came and yourn for yours, or hossfor
horse, and SO on, yetexperience and prac-
tice often costs gentle smile. and says
he paid dear, very dear for his whistle
And now to the subject.
LIST. The land must be light or sandy,
and it will be much better to take poor
land and make it rich. The great ad-
vantage will be less vines and more roots.
Secondly. The land should be we'll plowed
eight or ten inches deep. The blowing
should be done the first of March, and
should be ploughed over, if possible, after
every rain, say once in two weeks; and
always plough the same way. When
the time has arrived for planting, make
nice four furrow bed. After the lst bed,
run the beam of the plough next to the
bed, leaving a small stripe for the third
furrow. In this way you will have no
need of stakes. Never bed the land until
you have a season. AS soon as the
plough starts, start your hoes to hilling.
The rows and hills should be about three
feet apart. If the day is cloudy it is best
to set the plants as the hills are made;
if not, let the hills remain until late in the
evening; then, with the hand, knock off
all the dry dust, open the top with the
hand four inches, set the sprout straight,
press the dirt to the roots; be careful
that no leaves are covered. The planting
being over, in ten days, should there be
rain, the hills should be scraped down,
say to the depth of one inch. Hills are
often chopped down, and the roots left
exposed, causing failure of the crop
After the scraping is over and the time
for hilling, which will be in two or three
weeks, run the plough twice in each row,
which will make fine dirt, and hand can
hill three times as many. This having
been accomplished, a third hoeing, which
I call scraping up, is to be done, and this
should take place when the runners are
about to meet, or sooner if there should
be grass. 1t will be remembered there is
no grass to remain on the top of the hill.
The work is done. l dig with hoe. A
hand should dig thirty bushels per day.
/ have assumed the position that potatoes
are raised from the sprout, and perhaps it
may benefit some to give the mode. Have
the bed in southern exposure dig out a
place in the form Of ditch, eighteen
inches deep; take the manure fresh from
the stable and as clear of straw and stalks
as possible pack it down hard and smooth
to the depth of twelve inches; then cover
it one inch deep with very rich light dirt;
place the potatoes on the dirt, so as they
will not touch each other, then cover with
light rich dirt three inches; make all per-
fectly level and the work is complete. In
the manner above described have raised
large quantities for Baltimore and Fred
rioksburg markets, and it is no hard JOB
to raise three hundred bushels per acre,
on suitable soil. have kept an account
Of sales Of potatoes for twelve years, and
they y:have averaged over fifty cents per
bushel. One or two words more, MIR.
Editor, and have done. There is no
doubt, some will say, if all this is to bo