The Pickens sentinel. [volume] (Pickens, S.C.) 1871-1903, 1885-10-15

1t is doubtful ifany plan is |
superior to the old fashioned one of
curing in rail pens. Instead of boards
laid on without mailing and kept down
by weights, Splank an ihci, and q GUAR.
ter thick, OF proper length, will found
more convenient and more effective az
. covering. A good supply of such
planks should be kept OH every farm
for temporary shelter purposes. A
loaded wagon, q pile of hay or other
stuff could be rooted in a few minutes |
against threatening rain. When not |
In use they could be stored under
shelter and would last for years The
next best plan is to cut and stack the
Viues at once, without drying, around
second growth pine with low branch
ing limbs, the ends OF the limbs being
cut off so as to make the outlines Of
the tree after 1t is trimmed cone shap>
cd. The limbs prevent the vines from
setting down too closely and the
shrinkagc i'll drying gives q plenty of
ventilation. OF course brush or rails
raised above the surface, are placed
around the bottom of the tree to keep
vines Off the ground. 1t is we'll also to
cap with hay or straw, as pea. vines do
not shed water very well. After they
are well cured, put up In barns, as
such stacks will not bear long exposure
to weather.
Much crab-grass hay can be saved
on every farm; cut when in bloom, or
little after, the quality is excellent.
Most of that which is usually saved is
cut too late, the seeds having already
formed and drawn from the stalks and
Leaves their most valuable contents.
The seed usually drop off, and add
nothing of value TO the hay. A train
ed hand, with q good rcap-hook, can
cut great deal of this grass in places
where the moving blade cannot reach
1t. Swamp grasses, if cut early just
IN bloom, ma kc good medium hay for
} c0ttlo and mules, but as in the case of
craD'grass they are generally cut too
iate. Never let grass, after it Is partly
drlcd, take dew; all that Is cut before
TWO or three o'clock should be put up
III COCKS just before night, and as fast
| as 1t cures, several small cocks should
be brobght together aud put into one
| large cock. The rule is to expose US
possible to dew, rain or sun, and a
large cock has less surface in propor>
ton to its contents than "a small one.
We have have often tried to cure
potato vines, but without success. A
week or SO, however, before the usual
time for digging potatoes the vines
may be grazed off without appreciable
injury TO the crop. Most persons pre-
fer to dig after the vines are singed bv
frost, and the work is usually done
from the 25th of October to the 10Th of
November. If the ground is dry, SO
that there is no danger of injury from
freezes, it is we'll to defer the digging
as late as possible, as it is desirable
that the potatoes should be cool after
they are dug-cOOlness, dryness and as
little variation of temperature as pos
slOle are the conditions requisite for
Keeping potatoes. The temperature of
the interior of the bank or hill should
heuer fall below forty degrees, and if
practicable not raise above sixty. In
warm weather it would be difficult TO
keep the temperature down TO sixty;
therefore we say it is best to put up
potatoes after the weather has become
settled cold. Tho sinking below forty
degrees is to be guarded against by a
liberal covering of pine straw, corn
stalks, etc finished off with LAYER of
earth. After the straw is compressed,
1t ought to be six inches thick and the
layer of dirt on outside from six inches
to foot, according to the severity of
the climate. The thicker the coating
of straw and dirt, the slower the
changes of temperature in the interior
OF the bank this, therefore, is a very
good means of preventing sudden
variatiotion from warm to cold or the
reverse. Another is to protect the
bank from direct sunshine. A thcr.
mometcr being in the shade will show
less variatins of temperature during
the twcnty-four hours of night and dav
than one hung in the sunshine. For q
like reason shaded potato bank will
have more uniform temperature than
one exposed to the sun during the
day and to free radiation at night.
Potatoes 20 through a sweating process
soon after they are banked; it is well,
therefore, 70 have ventilator through
the the centre of the bank and an
opening at the top during tho first
three or four weeks after they are mt
up. Subsequently the opening should
be thoroughly closed, not only with
straw, but with dirt likewise. Exclude
air, exclude moisture, and exclude,
light; keep the temperature uniform
hot or cold-these are the requisites
for preservation. The potato is q
tropical plant; in the tropics there are
two seasons, the wet and the dry. In
its relations to vegetation, the former
takes the place of our summer, and the
latter of our winter. Vegetation is
more or loss dependent during the dry
season. The sweet potato bridXes it
over by its tubcrs, which remain un-
changed in the dry hot soil. Tho tenn.
peraturc of the soil, though high, is
uniform, ard this uniformity, together
with absence Of moisture, Keeps The
tubers dormant. A cool soil would be
better if above freezing point, because |
heat is one of the stimulants to germi- |
nation, or sprouting, which is similar
to termination, and to rotting, which |
ls always an accompaniment Of germi-
nation. The sweetening of the yam
during winter is evidence of a slow
chemical change in its c6ntonts-its
starch boing gradually converted into
sugar and thus made soluble and fit to
nourlsh 10 young sprouts, which, in
The course of nature, are soon to ap.