The Lafayette gazette. [volume] (Lafayette, La.) 1893-1921, 1895-12-21
FARMER AND Plan !
eMkEf RofATeEa.

! .3fl - ~ 3
10 keep sweet pbtAtceA we'll sh9y
must ifrst be properly harvested. u
the crop DC ihtcniled for stock feed IL
10 much cheaper to let the stock har.
vest it. Cattle may be turned on drst
TO eat the tops and vines. atterward
hogs may be turned on to harvest the
tubera. In this way nearly AL tile
crop nAy I've aaved at minimum Cost.
II the potat toes are TO be dGk it is Inn
poftAht to know w1Ssh to dig them
Tho crop should not be dug when the
sap is active In the vines. II. whom n
tuber is cut. the cut place partially
heals over and becomes dry the crop
But il the cut place turns grecnish
black the crop is not ready to be har-
vested.
Vines arc d great nuisance ia haf-
vesting sweet potatoes. There arc two
different ways OF getting rid of them.
One is to Craze them of. and the other
is to cut them of. We have used .
sharp rolling cutter on the beam of a
turning plow Just in front of the plow
point successfully. This rolling cut
ter cuts the vines of each side OF the
row while some dirt was thrown away
from tile row ut the same time. The
third time the turning pillow was run
in the center of the rows and the pu-
tatoes thrown out. The thLefs we're
then gathered md sacked. Care IN 1st
be taken not to brufse them rs the k6ft
rot Is apt to start at all bruised places.
All bruised ttbets should be sorted
out and fed at once before storing.
We have tried Fosititc, Bordeaux mix
ture. lime and sand keeping sweet
potatoes. but neither one proved
effectual in preventing the
spread OF black rot We have
obtained good results by letting the
tubers remain in the ground where
they grew until wanted. BY throwing
dirt over the rows with a turning p1ow
it will prevent them from freezing in
this climate. Further wor:x, which IL
now in progress. Is Necessary in this
line before positive Recommendations
can bc given as to the best method to
prevent injury by black rot If the
potatoes are to be stored away they
decay from soft rot must be taken out
frequently. In a bout two weeks after
digging they will be dry and the soft
rot will stop. The potato house we
have used in Keeping potatoes. both
sweet aud irish, is shown in bulletin
now III press. 1t consists of two outer
walls with dead-air space between.
ventilator. The ventilator may be
opened and closed at will.
During warm days in the
fall the doors are left open
for further ventilation. Inside
are upright pieces which project from
the floor to the ceiling. Strips reach
from these across to the wnl1sI Oh
these planks are laid length wise, which
are nailed also against the sides of the
posts, thus forming long boxes. The
| potatoes are stored in these and dry
| road sand mixed with them. Mice can
| not go through dry sand. Potatoes
| kept we'll in this house last winter
when the temperature went down a.
! low as degrees Fa1,., and not one per
cent. was injured by freezing.
The sand must be changed every year
Tor sweet potatoes. because it is very
apt to contain spores of diseases which
! will infect the next crop. Where we
did not change the sand nearly all the
crop was lost from black rot The po
tatoes that have kept best are Brazil
ian. Bronse, Canal. Shanghai and
Southern Queen. The purple skin va
rieties have resisted the diseases best
| Texas Experiment Station Bulletin