The county record. [volume] (Kingstree, S.C.) 1885-1975, 1904-06-09
Sweet Potato Culture.

The sweet potato is par excellence
the root crop of the Southern States.
because it is suited to climatic and soil
conditions as found in these States. 1t
is also one of the most pro-.table and
satisfactory crops that tie Southern
farmer can make either for market
or home use. and | only state what is
a we'll known fact. that there is not
another crop so universally grown as
this crop. because it can be found on
the least piece of cleared land. where
the foundat ton OF the future farm is
being laid. to the large fields of the old
plantations where they count their
acres by the thousands. At this time
every year great many inquiries
come to hand from parties newly
moved into the Southern States. par
ticularly the Gulf States, as to the
best methods Of getting a satisfactory
and profitable yield from this crop,
for it appears to be we'll recognized
fact that to the newcomer this is one
of the crops that he can hardly fail
in making something from. To such
Inquiries I would say first of ALL see
that Your land is we'll broken and put
in good tiith. If the land is old, plow
as deep as your soil will allow you,
and a little deeper: if new land is be-
ing used don't piow deeper than your
top soil. but pulveriZe thoroughly
what You do plow so as to make
thoroughly mellow bed for the young
potatoes to grow in. On our tough
wire grass sod of the long leaf pine
lands, it is no: advisable to cut 4
plow Of the one horse type is recon-
mended to make beginning with. be-
cause G large slice will take long
time in decaying and getting incor-
porated with the other SOIL What l
specially commend. and have been
practising personally for number of
years on this kind of land is very
narrow scooter say about two inches
wide, cutting and prosecuting the
land at the very first and going about
six inches deep. This method Of
breaking new land mixes it all zip
thoroughly and goes deep enough to
Go q little Subsoiling at the same time.
This followed with the turning plow a
few inches deep and again with har-
row and cuitivator makes an excel
lent job on our stubborn wire grass
sods. After the plowing. either old land
or new should be treated to a good
application of high grade fertilizer.
The claim is often made that new land
does not require fertiliZing. Perhaps
this is so. in certain sense. but the
farmer who takes the fertility from
his soil that nature put there for a
crop, without adding some more to it
to make that crop. is a soil robber and
the results will come back on him in
after years 1t is we'll recognized
fact among all our best agricultur-
lists. that every crop grown on the
farm must be provided with the snec-
essary plant food for that crop in the
form Of the proper fertilizers for same.
The fertilizer for sweet potatoes should
contain liberal amount of phoSphOric
acid and potash. The nitrogen is not
so imperative as in most of our soils,
enough nitrogen is already present
An excess Of nitrogen will promote the
growth of the vine at the expense of
the root production, and it is root we
are after. In buying fertilizer al
ready made up as we find it on the
market, the analysis Of the same
should be about six per cent. potash
and five or six phosphoric acid. From
500 pounds per acre up to 1000 pounds
can with safety be applied broadcast
and worked we'll into the soil some
time before the draws are ready to
plant. 4 low broad bed is best to
grow the crop in; plot culture during
our rainy seasons of July and August
tends to lessen the crop. I have tried
both ways aid found the bed system
by far the most satisfactory. And the
nature of the crop with its excessive
vine production is against any system
that requires after cultivation when
the crop is once planted. The beds
should be four feet apart and nicely
rounded out on top. There is no crop
made on the farm where keeping quail
tiles are so essential as tn, sweet po-
tato crop, for it is expected to keep
all winter and well on in spring and
to have these keeping qualities it
must be well grown and as perfect in
it's nature as it is possible to make it;
to get this quality in it is the mission
or object of the potash in the fertil-
izer.-Southern Planter.
Silase For Steers.
Professor \. NJ. Soule, Of Tennessee,
, .