The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1904-01-18
FARM, GARDEN
AND HOUSEHOLD
By S. A. COOK.

/ ties. and they differ considerably in
their characteristics and comparative
value. Generally speaking, they con-
tain a very high per cent of starch,
which makes them valuable for food,
both for men and animals of the farm.
Some varieties contain also quite
good per cent. of sugar. These are
more highly esteemer for table use.
The flesh is varously cOlored from
milky white to deep yellow. The
yellow are the sweeter and sell high
er in the markets. Some have a white
skin. some a yellow skin and some
a deep red. The latter generally have
very white flesh. and are not highly
esteemed for table They are called
yams, poplar roots, Spanish Bermudas,
niger heads, and so on. Besides, they
have various local names from the
parties who grow a particular variety
successfully. We have thief Norton
yam, the Georgia yam, the pumpkin
yam, the old fashioned yam, the vine
less yam, the Jersey yam, and so on.
The yamS have d more or less fOrked
leaf. The others generally have solid
leaf.
Sweet potatoes are cooked in a va
rety Of ways, to suit the taste of the
consumer. a grated potato pudding
cooked brown and the crust stirred in
and then Drowned again, and this re-
peated several times, is a dish that
can hardly be surpassed. Potatoes
and possum" are proverbial dish that
enjoys a great reputation. Custards,
sliced pies, dressed, baked, roasted and
fried are a few of the ways of serv-
ing them. Perhaps roasting in the
ashes preserves their full flavor bet
ter than any other method of cooking.
When. Gen. Marion and his braves
lived on roasted potatoes and fought
he nd
were not on hard rations by any
means
Growing-Prepare the land deep and
harrow well. Then lay off rows three
and one-half feet put in some sort
of rotting vegetation to keep the bed
mellow. Then use phosphate and
kainit, or muriate, freely and bed fiat
Put some more potash just before you
set slips, and mix it in with a har-
row. This will freshen up the SOIL
kill young grass and weeds, and help
young slips or vines to live. Plenty
of potash will make the potatoes plump
and smooth and sweet.
The vines cut or pinched off with
three or four leaves, and planted so
as to cover all but the top one, will
live easily, and make a good crop
Many prefer the vines to the slips.
They can be set any time from April
to August. If too much nitrogen is
used, the potatoes will be apt to crack
as they grow. DO not wait for rain;
set the slips and put pint of water
to each and cover with dry soil, and
the@ will grow off better than If
planted in the mud.
Cultivation-Keep them clean. Grass
and weeds do more damage to pota-
toes than to any other crop we have
tried. The vines should not be cover
ed with the SOIL for then they will
take root and injure the potatoes.
Neither should the vines be cut or
pulled The leaves are the lungs and
the workshop. The food is here made
into milk and sent to the potatoes.
heeping-As soon as mature they
should be dug. Use long plows so as
to avoid cutting them. Take out all
bruised ones and put the potatoes in
your home cellar or hill and cover very
nghtly, leaving opening at the top so
that the steam may freely escape.
When this has ceased to form, and the
potatoes are dry and cool, cover them
so as to prevent all possibility of frost
or freeze. If this work is carefully
done, no potatoes need ever be lost
No moisture should reach them.
clemson College, S. c.. has perfect
ed process by which evapolated DO
tatoes can bep kept indefinitely. II
you are interested, write them for
bulletin.
Nalue-Potatoes yield from twenty
hVe to 700 bushels per acre. They
sell from 20 cents to 81 per bushel
Early IN season or very late they
sell higher still. They are very val.
liable to feed to chickens. hogs, cows
and horses. Hogs are made verv fat
on them.
Two to three hundred bushels is not
an unusual yield, promising an in
come from 500 to 5000 per acre
j. r Hnnnic,,tt