The Weekly Kansas chief. [volume] (Troy, Kan.) 1872-1918, 1876-03-23
for the farmer.
objections FOR sPROUTING AND
RAISING SWEET POTATOES.
BY A. H. vEsrAL, OF CAMBRIDGE CITY.

Select place that lays to the sun, make box
by setting planks edgeways on the ground, and
put in good stable manure about foot in depth,
over which spread earth to the depth of two or
three inches; upon this lay the potatoes, SO near
as to almost touch each other, and cover them
from two to three inches deep with good loose
earth; if the nights are cold cover the bed with
plank or some other warm covering, to keep the
potatoes from chilling freezing; keep the bed
uncovered when the weather is warm II at any
time the bed becomes too dry, water it. When
the plants about three inches high they will
do TO set in the ridges OF hills. VIII lie the pota-
toes are in the hot bed sprouting, you should
prepare the ground for planting; it should be
well SUBSIDIZED, narrowed, and if cloddy, rolled
If you wish to plant in ridges, make them about
three and half feet apart, with pillow, and nm
ish them with hoe; if you wish to make hills,
ridge it one way and furrow it the other way,
three feet each way is sufficient; finish them
with q hoe. 1t is not necessary to make the
ridges or hills large when the ground is subsoIl-
ed. When planted in ridges the plants may be
set from eight to ten inches apart when In hills
one plant is sufficient to the hill; you need not
wait for rain if the weather is dry plant IN the
evening and water them little. They will need
about two plowings; at the first plOwIng, scrape
the weeds and grass from around the plants with
hoe, and when plOwed the last time, hill them
up some.
sproutiDg from the first to the fifteenth of April,
and the planting may be done from the tenth OF
May to the last of June; some seasons it will do
to commence earlier.
The plants can be shipped thousand miles or
more without injury, but when persons live oil
some distance they had better send and get the
potatoes and sprOut them at home; the plants
will not cost them as much, and they will stand
better chance to plant when the season is good,
and they will have plants to repiant with.
The most of my sweet potatoes are Bermuda
sweet potatoes which think is the best sweet
potatoe in the world for the western and north
western country. One popularity of this varie-
ty is it will mature early, and is good for use at
every stage of its growth. Another popularity
is its adaptation to great variety of soils; al
most any soil that will produce good corn will
produce good sweet potatoes.
The Bermuda sweet potatoes are a short red
potatOe, yellow inside, and fit for use at least
three weeks sooner than the yellow variety, and
will yield double the amount per acre, and will
keep better through the Winter, and will pro-
duce more plants when put to sprout. Several
years ago, when We first got the Bermuda sweet
potatoes, there were three kinds, pale red pO-
:atoe, yellow potatoe, and the deep red one.
We planted them on our richest MANFRED ground;
they grew very large, some would weigh from
eight to ten pounds; they were too large to cook
good some of them were warting; l found the
short, deep red ones were the best sorted them
out and saved them for seed, and planted them
on common soil, not too rich, and l found they
were as good as any sweet pOtatOe. They will
grow to be good size on common land. When
they are large the best way too cook them is to
boil them part done and then bake them have
the water boiling hot if the potatoes are large,
cut them in three or four pieces and drop them
i'll the boiling water, and boil them rapidly oil |
nearly done, then take them out and bake them
with beef or pork, or by themselves, and they
will be dryer and sweeter than il baked from
the start. They have a rich peelng and deep
thrifty eye. If boiled first, it takes out the peel
ing sappy taste. 1t will insult some women
to tell them how to cook potatoes; they think
they know it all but have seen very nice wo-
men, that could curl their hair and paint their
faces, and look very neat, but did not know how
to bake a Johnny cake cook sweet potatoes
right