The Iuka vidette. (Iuka, Miss.) 1894-1912, 1909-03-11
By Il. e. BLAKEsLEE. JACKSON.
MISSISSIPPI SWEET POTATOES.

SoHslueIdDie mas DetH sutu III thcSV
columns during the past year concerning
our sweet potato crop and the effort to
introduce it in the Northern and Eastern
markets. A trial shipment was made
hatchic, and the result was most salts
factory. Mr.. Wilson was secretary of a
large commission concern in Pittsburg,-
Pa, for number of years Failing
health suggested that he come South for
a change. He bought a large tract of
timber land in Rankin county and began
milling the timber. He then became in
terested in developing it agriculturally,
and was impressed with our sweet potato
as an excellent crop.
The proposition was pretty well
threshed out last year, and it became APP
parent that to make it success it would
be necessary to bank our potatoes until
February and March, allowing the Jer-
sey potato that is in such favor up there
to get out of the way before Offering
ours. Then came up the question of TAX
ing care of them until that time. Many
plans have been offered some insisting
that it could not be done safely. Mr..
Wilson has made study of the PROPOSE
ton, and believes that there is as much
in the potato as in the method of keep
ing. He also contends that the bunch
yam will be liked better by people who
have been educated to eat a mealy po-
tato, than our famous candy yams. He
has kindly written plain and sensible
letter on the subject which is hereby
given
''In an article which appeared in The
Bulletin and Greater Mississippi last
June, the writer endeavored to set forth
the advantages of sweet potato culture
in a general way, either for the home
market or for shipment north. That
article, as well as those written by your
self seems to have struck a responsive
chord with both the merchant and the
farmer, and with the assimilation of that
general article comes line of more tech
nical inquiry. The latter class, while
knowing how to raise sweet potatoes,
seem to fail in keeping them over win
ter in n marketable condition. The for
mer class agree that they can persuade
their customers to grow the potatoes and
that they are willing to handle them, il
they only knew how to prepare them and
them.
''The article referred to has stimulated
many persons to address the writer per
sonally along the lines above stated, and
to reduce my correspondence to mimi
mum 1 have considered it advisable to
prepare this article for the March Bulle-
tin, which is intended in a general way
to answer the inquiries that have reach
ed me on this identical subject.
'1-et us begin at the beginning: If
you want to keep sweet potatoes success
fully select variety that will keep as
well as sell If you have variety that
will keep and not sell, and variety that
will sell, but won't keep, you are in the
wrong either way. Divorce yourself from
your own prejudices and tastes as to
any commodity that you wish to sell if
you wish to be successful. Any North
ern commission man will tell you that
the public will buy the large, white,
fibrous Paschal celery ahead of the crisp,
golden heart; they will buy long green
Ashtabula lettuce, while the delicious
Creole varieties go begging. The Italian
fruit vendor sells more Ben Davis APP
plies than he does the staple Baldwin or
King because the former variety takes
high polish and is attractive in appear
ance, notwithstanding the fact that it is
scarcely edible. The great majority of
retail buyers sacrifice quality to quantity
and appearance, rather than try to edu-
cate them to what we think they ought
to have.
IF you are raising sweet potatoes for
the home use, you naturally know more
about the conditions peculiar to your
own markets than the writer; you know
what your neighbor wants and give it to
him. We have learned from experience
that the best keeper and the best trav-
Ger, as well as the best seller, is the
vineless or bunch yam. There may be
other varieties equally adapted to the
requirements of the Northern markets,
but we are not acquainted with them.
"The very best way that we have
found to keep sweets, without the ex-
pense of house, is to select well
drained spot and put fine dry hay on the
spot selected, so that the layer of hay
will be several inches deep when packed
down; gather your potatoes as carefully
as possible, without cutting or brusing,
pile them about five feet wide at the
base and not over four feet high, and
then as long as may be necessary to hold
your crop. Hay should then be packed
over them same as under them, and then
corn stalks should be stacked around
them so that the tops would extend a
foot or more above the top of the pile.
Allow these stalks to cross over each
other, the idea not being SO much for
protection against frost as to afford a