Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1853-1862, 1857-03-20

SwEET PoTAToEs-CULTIvATIoH AID MANAGE.
MEKT The sweet potato is here Considered 70 be
almost as ind spensabs a. the common sort. Nv
hotbed last year was sixty feet long By tea wide
design the next spring 81 enlarge it t,ree 70 D..
Ny mode is to place logs on = sloping p'ecs OF
ground, cay ten or Twelve feet apart. then drive
small stakes OF pegs Ia rows three feet spart and
eight inches higa. The obi ct i, to have not more
than seven or eight inches depth Of manure, which
should be fresh horse dung, q mixture Of hsy ,
straw, corn fodder, &c, trAmped down level with
the top of the pegs. l thea put coat Of lOam
three inches deep, upon the top of the manure
which answers for the dressing the subsequent
year / then place my tu5ers on, cover from rain
or cold until the pla MS are up. During the day,
let them have The suu, until / am sure they csa-
not be Injured by frUst I somstm water them
but not before the heat has some what subs:ded
in the bed which uncsrtail by putting my fore
finger through tbs covering A very little
warmth from beneath is sufi isa'; there is mere
to be apprehsnded from too much heat than too
little Some pace a covering Of saW-du5t on top
of the bed but this is entirely unnecessary. In
this a,iuce the beds should be made IS early as
the l0sh or 2O!h Of April. Tbs plants will be
ready for drawing from the Ssh to the 20 Of
May
select ground for growing the tuber, that viii
produce good corn. To manure Just before plant
loan, with or without sand, such as We call sec
ond years land, lying to the sun, yields best. 1t
need not uecss arly be sandy to produce the grca:
est yell; on the contrary, cool losmy land pro
dues tn of the beet favor. / plough the
ground well, VIE cry, and h 70 thoroughly. 1t
would even be bstter to stos=plough it. Then,
throw two moes" together, about four feat spart,
and see that the ground IS well puverizs1 in order
thst the list may be clear from Gods sods, and
trash, and that he land is IN the best order to 70.
ceive the plants. TIE tins for Isnspl1uting is
when the ground is what We call 'dry" The
mode Of planting is to make hole with the hand,
or otherRife, Of the proper depth to receive the
young plant; and when il is placed in the hole,
pour in half gill ofwster, 90 that the ear b may
settle ronad the hbrous roots; then draw the
dry earth around the plant aud compress it little
with hoe. In less then twenty-four hours, the
plant will be as vigorous IS though it had never
been rim we'd Ga good land, the distance of the
plants apart shcuad b from eighteen to twenty
inches; for thin land f cen inches will be sufficient
The yie in this section is from one hundred to
one hundred ami City bushels to the acre. I should
state that the plants require to be h0ed about as
much as corn. The vines sdO9ld be thrown on the
ridges, out Of the way, while dressing. Ia digging
use large, long, fat three-tined dung fork, to
throw the tubers out # the ground. When dag,
spread them to dry and wilt somewhat pre-, Rralo-
~ to putting them up for " n,er, VII ca reqaires
much care. NY place of keeping is a cellar
kitchen. pack them in boxes Of dry sand, plsc.
ing a scantiDg upon the A0Or for The boxes to rest
upon. 1 keep the sand from year to year, and
sometimes have it xii dried.