Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1916-11-21
AGRICULTURAL
0SGduCatiOn
S AID SUCCESSFUL EARRING
S5=ssAa " ANDREWNC oULE
HARVESTING SWEET POTATOES

The season OF the year is at hand
when the harvesting OF sweet potatoes
has become the all-impOrtant issue. They
constitute one OF the sOuth's main food
crops. North Carolina and Georgia each
grow approximately eight million bush
els Of sweet potatoes The other south
ern states grow them IN very large
quantities. They are becoming an in
creasingly important article OF the
dietary and their preservation this year
IS a matter Of greater concern than
ever before because Of the high price
Of foodstuffs and the scarcity and IN
satisfactory quality OF Irish potatoes.
Naturally. there is much interest evil
denced at the present time as 10 the
best method Of harvesting and storing
the crop. \ great many people think
that sweet potatoes should never be
harvested until frost falls. This is a
mistaken notion as the sweet potato like
any other crop reaches maturity at a
certain time. and from that date for
ward fails TO grow or develop. There
is nothing gained. therefore, by leav-
ing them in the soil. and in fact, IL is
an advantage to take them UP when
they are ripe and store them because
bad weather may come a little later and
il may be difficult 10 harvest the crop
satisfactorily. Then if left until frost
occurs. IL may often be difficult TO get
them out with sufficient rapidity, the
work Will be done in a careless fashion
and the potatoes cut and bruised and
their keeping qualities greatly lessened
thereby.
It is not difficult matter to de-
termine when sweet potatoes are ready
10 harvest. The best method of as
certaining this fact is to take a potato
out OF the ground and break il open
and expose IL TO the sun II il dries
on quickly il is an evidence that il is
matured and that the harvesting may
be done. When the sweet potatoes are
ripe the vines will as a rule begin
20 show evidence Of IL by turning yell
low. sweet potatoes produce a hay Of
some value but il is difficult TO cure.
and unless the farmer is very short Of
fodder. it will not be necessary for
him 10 give much consideration to this
phase OF the proposition. In the event
they are used for hay. the tops should
be cut and allowed TO dry pretty
thoroughly before they are gathered up
for storage. II has been suggested that
sweet potato tops might be gTazed down
by cattle, but it would seem that the
cattle in tramping over the land would
Injure many Of the potatoes. and hence
the practice could hardly be commend
ed. especially where one desires to
gather and store the crop with the idea
of keeping il for several months for
home consumption.
When the potatoes are ready TO har-
vest they may be dug i'm the small gar
den by hand. When grown on a large
scale they can be plOwed out with
one-horse turning pillow or with a mid
die buster. Where potatoes are extern
sively grown. they may be harvested
with a regular potato digger. The har-
vesting should be done in a dry time
so that the soil will readily fall away
from the potatoes. II the ground is wet
from heavy rains the earth will stick
70 the potatoes and ii WEI be difficult TO
get It of. and they cannot be harvested