The Greenville enterprise. [volume] (Greenville, S.C.) 1870-1873, 1871-02-22
Sweet Potatoes.

ooooO III tuC DSCSutUSE NO.
OF the Cultivator, asks "do pota.
toes need any manure and what
sort 2"'nWhile l may no. be able
satisfactorily to solve the question,
i propose TO submit few remarks
upon tile subject. / may promise
by saying in agriculture, as in
morals and religion we need line,
upon line, and precept upon, pre-.
ceptThere a little and there a lit.
tler If the files. of your journal
for q. few years past, were accessi
ble,t your enquirer, he would no
doubt lind many Vt his questions,
satisfactorily answered. Land mp
on which potatoes are attempted
to be grown, may bo either too
looseoor too close, too rich or, too
poor, 10 produce them to advan.
tage. L believe it is generally con.
ceded that light land with good
measure of vegetable rratter. eth
er naturally present or furnished,
is best for potatoes. Stimulating
fertilizers, beyond a certain point,
will develope rank vines on the
sh'lacc, and strings, instead of
roots, below. Cow dung, in com.
bination with STRAW and leaves.
makes good potatoes. Grass the
enemy of most crops, is especially
the bane of this one. In one corn.
er of my potatoe patch this year,
there is a little strip of land Just
taken in, after having received,
the droppings of stock, and then
pressed by constant tramping for
years. After breaking it up two
ways as well as l could, with a
scooter drawn by a single mule, l
laid it off four feet with same plow,
filled the trenches with half rotted
straw, and bedded with four coul-
ter burrows. l did not consider
the ground sufficiently pulverized,
and was the more confirmed in
that opinion, when | heard the
roaring sound of the plow in s".h-
en.ins .!.oru. but, to my surprise
the two, three, and four pound p :
tatoes rolled out in qnick success
sion, and the yield on that strip
was decidedly better than on the
better, pnlverized, aud as / consid-
cred the better manured field ad.
Joining. Perhaps the secret of the
difference lies IN the fact, that
there was no crab grass seed to in.
terfere with the first, and it was
consequently laid by clean
while the other was suffered to
make crop of potatoes and grass
jointly. Break the ground thor
oughly and deeply, ana cultivate
30 as not to allow a spear of grass
to run to seed. Don't stop cult.
pating because the vines lap across
the rows, but turn them by hand
into every alternate row until
those rows are plowed-then turn
them into the treshcd plowed row,
and plow :he other. Never pick
out the small potatocs-as some
do, from the general crop-for
slanting, or you will surely make
small potatoes, and they will grow
beautifully less till you will have
something like hames-strings in
stead ofpotatoes. Either bed your
best potatoes to obtain draws {"
for planting o. Plant vines in SUN,
iner to make slips. Some recon.
mend the cheaper plan of strip.
ping the beds just before frost, and
banking the vines as you would
potatoes, for planting. Some peo.
pie think they can't raise potatoes
without making high beds with the
hoe, this is a mistake A bed is no
more needed for potatoes than for
corn or cotton. The vines must
not he allowed to take root ex>
cept in the bed. Gather before
frost, and put up in banks oftwen-
ty-fvc or thirty bushels, on thick
bed Of pine, wheat, or oat straw,
and cover heavily, with the same,
aud add a good coat of earth from
a circular ditch one or Two feet
around the bank. Then shelter
from rain or snow if you please
if not, be sure to pile on straw and
earth enough to keep them dry.
1. Z. l.. Darlington, S. Q.
.-S>r.
How TO RAISE Coon Cn1cKESs.
!. Set the hen in a place where
she will not be disturbed.
2. Give a large hen twelve or
thirteen eggs, medium sized, one
ten or twelve, and small ono,
eight or nine.
3. Don't let the hen come out
Of the sitting.room until she has
hatched, but keep her supplied
with gravel, food and water.
4. When chicks are hatched,
Ieaee them in the nest for eight or
ten hours.
B, Don't meddle with tho eooa