Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1875-05-06
The III Err AID.
Sweet Potato Culture.
Ella. RrEHL. IN THE RURAL WORLD

Z. A. RIEHL, IN THE RURAL WORLD.
Almost any soil will grow sweet
potatoes. Some kinds do better on
certain soils than others; but, on the
whole, find all kinds do best on
rather dry soils containing consider.
able amount of clay, and if enriched
with manure, the yield will be greater
in proportion. To have the soil in
proper condition at planting time, it
should have been ploughed once or
twice during the Spring and rolled,
and so prepared as to be as free from
clods as possible. | find it best to
plant in ridges, which should be about
three and half feet from center to
center, and about fourteen inches
high.
The plants shonld be dropped but
short distance ahead of the planters,
ten to fourteen inches apart, on fresh
ly made ridges. The planter should
be provided with bright, sharp ma
sons trowel, which he grasps in his
right hand, straddles the ridge, picks
up plant with his left hand, pushes
the trowel into the earth in a slanting
direction, opens hole by drawing
and lifting motion, opening a space
about an inch wide, thrusts the plant
in with the left hand, withdraw the
trowel press the earth to the plant
with the right hand, putting his
weight on. the arm, without letting 90
the trowel, and while doing SO picks
up another plant With his left hand,
ready to repeat the operation.
have found this the fastest and
every way ,he best manner of proceed
ing. Great care must be observed to
have the plants well-firmed; the earth
cannot be pressed too firmly to the
roots of any plant, while if not well
firmed, and dry weather fellows, the
plant is almost sure to be lost.
The proper performance Of this is
of the greatest importance; without it,
all previous care and expense will avail
nothing. | have found it best and by
far the cheapest, never to allow the
weeds to get start; as soon after
every rain as the soil is fit to work,
the ground should be stirred with
some implement, be it rake, hoe,
pillow or harrow, so as to destroy
the weeds as soon as they have germ
mated, when the least stirring and a
half hours sun will kill beyond resur-
rection. My ridges are made by a
machine built for the purpose, hence
all are alike, which enables me to cult
vate both sides of the ridges at one
operation with a steel harrow made to
fit the ridge and drawn bytwo horses.
The space at the bottom between the
ridges is cleaned by one passage of
the shovel plough-thus there is only
a narrow strip on top of the ridges to
be cleaned by hand labor. Two or
three such workings are about all that
can be accomplished, and are suffi-
cient; by that time the plants will be
growing so rapidly as to cover the
ground in short time and prevent
all further growth of weeds. What
ever plan or instrument is used, it is
OF the greatest Importance never to
let the weeds get start, as man
can do at least four times as much
while they are under haitian inch high
as he can after they are over two.
Digging is a costly operation as
performed by many persons. The
best and most expenditous way l have
yet tried is to take large two or
three-horse pillow; set it as much to
land as possible; attach rolling coul-
ter, sitting it to land about two inch
es; straddle ridge with your team
and turn it over with the pillow. The
coulter will cut the vines completely
if kept sharp, and the pillow inverts
the whole ridge. The potatoes re-
main hanging together on the vine,
and the points sticking up, and by
taking hold of one the whole hill can
be pulled up. They should be broken
off from the vines, sorted and laid in
baskets or piles. The greatest care
must be observed not to bruise the
potatoes, as the bruises cause rotting
soon after