The Hattiesburg news. (Hattiesburg, Miss.) 1908-1917, 1915-05-12
PEAS, PEPPERS, POTATOES
fContinued from Page Three)

IL is diIncuIt 10 keep potatoes through
| the summer. a fall crop should be
| grown. A common practice in some
parts of the South is to plant potatoes
from the first crop as soon as they are
| dug. In the lower South this method
can be followed to advantage. Anoth-
er method is to bed the potatoes on a
little loose soil in a cool, shady place.
covering the bed with litter or soil
soon as the tubers sprout thew are
planted in the field for The late crop.
Potatoes are planted II to IA inches
apart in rows 211 to feet apart and
covered to the depth of about A inches.
Potatoes planted during hot weather
should be covered inches deep unless
they have been sprouted before plant
ing. The burrows are usually opened
with 1-horse turnplow, or lister, and
the potatoes dropped, one piece in
place. in the bottom of the furrow.
AS it requires two or three weeks for
potatoes to come up, it is important
that they be cultivated as soon as the
row can be followed. If a crust forms
before the potatoes come up, spike
tooth harrow or weeder should be run
over the ground to loosen the surface
of the SOIL Harrow-toothed cultiva-
tors should be used for the main cult
walton, but at the last cultivation the
soil may be worked up around the
plants to hold them erect and to pro-
tect the tubers from the sun.
After digging the early potatoes
they should be kept in cool, dry
place during the hot weather of sum-
mer. In the lower South it is better
to grow a fall crop rather than to try
to keep the spring crop through the
summer and winter. Fall-grown pota-
toes can be kept in dry cellar, in
pit, or in any building where the tenn
perature can be controlled. Irish po-
but should not be allowed to reach the
feeezing point 1t is best not to allow
the temperature to fall below SO de-
grees F.
Varieties recommended: Irish Cob
bier, Bliss Red Triumph. and Bliss
White Triumph are good early pota-
toes. Where only one variety is to be
grown, the Irish Cobbler is recon-
mended. The same varieties may be
grown for the fall crop, or the Green
Mountain, which is a late variety, may
be used.
Sweet potatooc-The sweet potato
is not usually handled as garden
crop in the South, but it is advisable
to have few plants in the garden for
early summer use. On land that is
not thoroughly drained sweet potato
plants should be set on ridges which
are thrown up by means of a ploW
Two or four burrows are usually
thrown together, and levelled off with
a light drag. The ridges should be
broad, as narrow sharp ridges dry out
quickly. The fertilizers recommended
for general garden treatment will be
found satisfactory for sweet potatoes.
The roots that are too small for mar
keting are usually used for seed. For
an early crop the roots should be
bedded in a hotbed five or six weeks
before it will be safe to set the plants
| in the field AS the plants are easily
injured by cold, they should not be
transplanted until danger of frost has
| passed. For the general crop in the
lower South, select a protected loca-
ton, preferably on the south side OF
building or fence, and bed the roots
in the open. common method is to
make an excavation inches deep and
of sufficient size to accommodate the
roots to bedded. Place in this layer
of sand or loose soh, on which to bed
the sweet potatoes. Put the roots
close together, but do not allow them
to touch, and cover them with SAND
or loose soil / to inches deep. Soil
on which sweet potatoes have been
grown should not be used for the seed
bed. Ten bushels of sweet potatoes
will furnish enough slips to plant an
acre. From these slips, if set out
early, may be taken enough vine cut
tings to plant Z or acres. Vine cut
tings may be planted as late. as July
in the upper South and as late as
August in the lower South. 1ney w.
produce as large crops as slips, with
LESS danger from disease which affect
the roots.
| Sweet potatoes should be dug on
bright day when the soil is dry. Tne
time for digging varies in different
sections, but the potatoes should DC
dug before there Is any danger OF marc
frosts. When grown on small scale