Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1870-10-07

WIN tAC opaNS u ill6 tulS VI pldHllng,
and soon after this space enlarged in the
same way, and then, in the succeeding
fall or spring the whole surface ploWed.
BY little care in this way, one may gain
years growth in his trees. T.
PUTTING up SWEET POTATOES
A correspondent of the Southern GU
tivdtor writes from Shreveport, La, as
follows:
observed in the August number of
your valuable paper, an inquiry respecting
the safest and best mode of putting up
sweet potatoes for winter. Having had
some experience in the matter, l cheer
fully submit it. The old South Carolina
plan, of placing 20 or 80 bushels, OF even
40 or so in one pile, forming pyramid,
and covering with dry straw or any other
similar article, to the thickness of or
inches, then with an outer coat Of dry
sand or Garth, over which a shed is
placed, leaving the top open for some s
or 10 inches, is good one for family use,
but it is attended with several drawbacks.
1t is difficult to secure the potatoes fIom
the ravages Of rats, both two-legged and
four-footed thieves, and in addition is at
tended with trouble in getting portion
out for daily use, and in securing them
at all times from the sudden changes in
our winter months; chickens, turkeys and
hogs viii also, if possible, find their way
into the spank" | adopted the follow
ing mode for several years with almost
II A lnt
ever, depends upon the gathering. In ibis
latitude, say 80 and SO deg from the LIST
to the 9Th of November, or so soon as the
vines and leaves are pretty well frosted
i. when this growth is luXuriant, they
should be dug-if otherwise, (Which may
be the case if planted upon thin land, }
the potatoes should be dug before any
frost comes. A great deal depends upon
the handling while being dug and put
away. Like great many other articles,
they should not be bruised or broken
or cut Such are very apt to rot, and
the contagion will be readily communicat-
ed to their neighbOrs. specify up to
the 9th of November, because after that
time, any rainy day or night will almost
invariably be followed by black frost,
in which case, goodbye to the sweet po-
tatoes left in the row. Now it so turned
out that it was to my interest to raise and
put up the crop from four to six acres Of
this Ito the Southern people the most
valuable of all the bread roots, and con-
strucied house as follows: Put cypress
posts AKA inches, in the ground to the
depth of one foot, leaving three feet four
inches out; the posts were eight feet
apart and four to each side, making the
house twenty-four feet long, and some
ten feet wide. Dug trench some four
or five inches deep along on the inside of
the posts, TO receive the endsof my plank,
cutting the plank just long enough to
reach from the bottom of the trench to
the top of the top plate, which was halved
into each pest; put one also at VI neal
the bottom in like manner. Placed post
at each gable, and one in the centre, to
form a ridge or comb upon. My plank
was inch stuff, twelve inches wide. The
west end was made in like form to the
sides-the front OF mouth was left open
for the present, for convenience of
going in our out. Now the most
important part is the packing away.
/ had TO haul them 100 or
$50 yards-continued to dig until about
4 O'Clock, when took my old corn sacks,
put the potatoes in them, and set them
carefully in the cart, and hauled them to
the house. l commenced at the extreme
end. The cover not being on, there was
no difficulty in getting the sacks to the
"packing man." had previously brought
several loads of the dryest sand and dirt
could find, and thrown in the mouth of
my house, convenient for the packer.
Putting down the first cart load at the
end, the packer commences putting the
potatoes down so as to ltave about one
inch between the plank and potatoes, and
this space is filed in with the sand or dirt.
This looks like a tedious operation, but
not go. After the first layer is finished,
the packer, with the help of a hand TO
throw on the dirt, could put down faster
than they could be hauled. This pro-
tecting the potatoes from the plank, must
of course be followed all around and up
to the top of the pile.
Ono other important matter is the thor
ough intermixing Of Il bushels of dirt or
sand With every ( bushels of potatoes.
This think is essential. The potatoes
will go through what is known as
sweat This sand or loan will take it up,
and when they become Over-heated will
give it off. l should have mentioned that
the joints of the plank should be broken
i. C. if your stuff is, say 12incbes wide,
leave a space of some or inches, TO be
broken by third plank. l made my
covering out of sheeting as wide as |
could procure it, and cut it long enough
to let the caves be or 10 inches over the
side. The south side of this covering
should not be fastened down, as it will be
necessary tc let in the south sun OCCASION
ally. In very cold weather | had shucks
or fodder placed on the top of the pota-