The silver messenger. (Challis, Idaho) 1890-1912, 1910-05-03
SWEET POTATO VINE
pest Results Derived from Loan
Which Is Rich.
anu 's nu'e' Does Not Require spe.
'' preparation But Should Be
r'owed in Fall and Irrigated
During Winter.

me the sweet potato does halter
III sandy loan than in an adobe coil
.ne pest results may be had from a
roam which is rich and consar,,ag
moisture well. Potatoes grown in
5000 ilch loan yield heavily and are
as d rule, Of good marketable size
shlooth surface and clean in moet re-,
y cHts' while potatoes grown in our
heaVy adobe soils are irregular in
sl"pe' nave very rough surface and
are not uniform ir size.
AS a rule the land on which nota.
Toes are to be grown does not renuire
any special preparation. It ought
however to be plowed in the fall and
II possible, irrigated during the win
Ter before the final ridging Is done
Just before the plants are to be trans.
planted the land should be thrown nm
III ridges about 312 to 4 feet apart.
sweet potatoes are propagated by
hieahs OF what are called slips" A
SIP Is sprout which develops from
me invisible buds or eyes on the sur
race OF the sweet potato. The tuber
is capable of producing a large num-
DER OF Sips While the common meth
90 OF propagating sweet potatoes is
ny means OF these slips, they can also
De propagated from cuttings.
II it is desired, though this is NOT
necessary. one may irrigate the ridges
before transplanting. This practice.
however, is not general Most grow
ers transplant the plants in the dry
earth and irrigate Immediately after
transplanting With the latter method
one should be careful not to allow the
plants which have been transplanted
TO remain too long before they are
irrigated. Another plan is to have the
men transplant little ahead of a
small stream of water. Irrigate the
plants as soon as possible after they
are transplanted About a week after
the transplanting is done another irri-
CATION should be given If the ridges
are irrigated before the plants are
transplanted it should be done a few
days ahead not to delay the operation.
The irrigation of the plants in rows
which have been previously irrigated
must be done as for plants which are
planted in the dry ridges. AS far as
the matter of irrigation is concerned
there is no difference in the two
methods. Some potato growers turn
in stream of water and transplant in
the water while it is running. This
method is somewhat tedious and slow
Some growers transplant on both sides
Of the ridges, others on top of the
ridge, but the best method is to trans
plant on one side only.
The distance at which to transplant
varies somewhat. Where the potatoes
grow too large the size may be re-
duced by reducing the distance of the
plants in the row.
From the time the potato is trans
planted it does not require any cult
walton until it has gained a growth
of probably 10 to 10 inches. Under
favorable conditions two or three hoe
ings are enough for the year.
The sweet potato is one of the most
drought resisting plants in the semi
arid regions. 1t will produce a crop
with less water than any other vege-
table. The fact that the sweet potato
is quite drought resisting does not
mean that the grower should not use
as much water as is necessary to pro-
duce a good crop. From 6 to 10
irrigations have produced good yields.
1t has also been observed that if the
sweet potatoes are kept well irrigated
and the surface soil moist a larger
crop is produced and the tubers are
nearer the surface of the ground than
when the surface soil is allowed TO
dry out too much If the surface soil
dries out too much the roots of the
sweet potatoes tend to follow the
moisture and go down deep into the
soil. In such cases there is a devel-
opment of the root seemingly at the
EXPENSE of the crop and the tubers
are down quite deep in the soil be-
sides. 1t is believed that if more fire.
uuent but lighter irrigations were
given instead of heavy irrigations at
long intervals better results could be
obtained.