The weekly clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1863-1882, 1871-04-27
From le Noble Register,
THE SWEET POTATO.

As have Just been planting a lot Of
sweet potatoes, and the season for q gene
raj planting Is near by, / viii give you my
treatment, though probably most of youl
readers understand the matter better than
| do
/ select a well drained, sandy bit OF
land and COW pen ii a few weeks. Pass
the plow over Ii once or twice; make my
banks with the pillow, drawing up with
hoe, If necessary. If the potatoes are
small, say the length and size Of ones
middle finger, | plant them whole; If
/ If larger cut them IN two or more peaees.
l prefer to plant without cutting, the
stand is more certain, the growth more
/ vigorous, and rather earlier than the
cut seed. / plant never less than five
I inches deep, (to guard against crows and
black birds and have the top of
the bank or ridge not shary, but fiat, to
catch the rain. Ny next work Is, with a
well sharpened hoe, to lightly shave the
appear They will soon show themselves
again, and this process leaves a clean
surface for the young plants. You have
now nothing to do but TO use the pillow
once or twice, the hoe once, and your crop
is made. usually plant an acre in this
way in the first or second week of March,
and RELY on the vines from this acre, to be
cut and set out in July for my main
crop.
l plant several varieties, but prefer the
yellow or golden yam to any other. Ny
potatoes are preserved in banks or cones,
and IN a house. put p bushels in a
bank, place a stake in the center for
ventilation, and cover carefully with well
dried corn stalks, leaving the potatoes
thus for couple Of days to throw off
their moisture | then cover the corn
stalks with four or five inches of earth;
if it be solid clay, it requires nothing
more; if sand, a board or bark roofshould
be put over the bank.
The potato house should be constructed
Of seasoned materials, say Of poles or logs,
barked, some months before; build it
tight; daub it well; let the floor be bedded
with dry sand, and divide into bins
holding from p to 80 bushels. l put
down 10 bushels of roots, cover with dry
sand, and so alternately until the bin has
It's proper quantity.
L leave an air hole in the house, whic is |
always closed in severe or wet weather. |
II there be a long spell Of damp or rainy |
weather, a small fire of oak bark or hicko- !
ry chips is daily made in the centre of the |
potato house.
| aim to dig my crop after the first |
light frost; can't be too carful in handling. !
Mules and horses eat potatoes for three
months, and do their usual work on them.
My pork hogs, when penned, are fed ex-
on potatoes. So are my COWS,
md | rarely fail to have some sound and
good tribes during the entire year.
II the process, just patented by
Louisiana company, converting the potato
nto syrup and sugar, leaving desicated
'esidum for feeding stock, be a success,
t will be indeed a god send to the
south.
Do | 90 by moon in planting potatoes e?
will tell you why In the good old
lines. when we had our own labor, / put
n my ten acres of potatoes, and then left
lome for Saratoga The season had
'een wet, and on my return | found the
idges covered with grass, with here and
here a struggling potato vine. Re {
roaching my driver IL never had an
verseer) for this state Of things, he said. =
Master, the weather kept us busy, and
know'd it want no use to work the {
lters-you would plant EN- in the wrong )
me of the season F" :
] determined thereafter, when it was +
ossibIe, to consult the prejudices of the o
egroes. Their superstitions are numer-
US and invincible. And it is easier to
uide them by yielding these harmless n
otions. 1t is up hill work, and they =
re easily discouraged if you run against
Ieir traditions.
NOTA BENE.