The county record. [volume] (Kingstree, S.C.) 1885-1975, 1920-03-11

erop. II must be said that II CON-
nares most favorably with cotton. Sta
tistics show that the average return
from IN acre Of cotton amounts 70
about S7o.s7 per acre. while the re-
turns from an acre Of potatoes
amounts to 3134.1s. i: One grower IN
South Carolina reports to the college
that he made q net profit Of s1.2ls.Ss
on four acres. which Is return over
three hundred dollars per acre. THIS
rrover was careful to keep an accu'
rate account of all expenses, including
that OF curing. marketing and grad
inx his crop. and his experience shows
ths possibilities Of the sweet potato
as a money crop for the South. In
fact, 1t proves the. value OF the crop
beyond all question.
Produces Well. On Nearly All Soils.
The soil and climatic conditions OF
the lower South are very favorable
to its growth and produce root much
sweater and richer In nutriment than
the harder and more starchy tuber
Of the more northern states. The po-
tato makes its best yields in the san
dier soils. It will do well on most
.ny soil that is well drained, but II
xrovn on soils that are. too fertile,
produces a larger amount OF vine a.
the expense of the potatoes. A light
soil. not too fertile, with firm SUD-
sou. gives best results. II the SUD
soil in too loose, and not compact, q
larre proportion of the roots VIII Do
stringy and unfit for market purposes
Preparation OF the soil Is about q
for cotton. The land is broken. laid
of. the fertilizers applied in the rows
and this bedded upon. The ridge Is
generally allowed to settle firmly b.
fore the slips or vines are planted.
Some Leading Varieties.
As to varieties. the Nancy Hall
seenus 10 be the prime favorite at this
Tina. The Porto Rico and Triumph
varieties are also very popular and
rank With the Nancy Hall as a good
yielder and q market fsvorite. The
southern Queen and Yellow jersey are
TWO other varieties which have found
favor with some growers.
Liberal Fertilization important.
Tho question Of fertilizers Is. OF
course, related to the kind OF soil on
which the crop is grown. On the
whole the crop needs liberal feruliza
ton and responds we'll to this treat
ment. The sweet potato needs com
plete fertilizer and an application o.
at least from 800 to 1000 pounds per
acre. Some manure may be applied,
hut It should be understood that this
is an unbalanced plant food, that BE-
cause of It's nitrogen content Will de-
yelop the vine to the detrtment OF the
roots II applied in too large quanti'
ties. The same thing is true OF COM
mercial fertilizer mixture having
high nitrogen analysis. The crop
needs potash more than do general
field crops, since this element seems
to Aid. IN the elaboration Of starch IN
the roots. It was found. however. that
during the shortage Of potash, due 70
the recent war, that sweet potatoes
would produce well with less amount
of potash than had been previously
thought necessary.
For best results the crop must have
. ~ood supply OF readily available
phosphoric acid. A formula contain
INK all three OF the necessary ele
ments of plant food would be, FOR the
coastal plain region. 9 per cent avail
able pnosphoric acid. per cent nitro-
zen and per cent potash. For the
piedmont region. good mixture Wlh
contain 8 per cent available pnos.
uhoric acid, 2 per cent nitrogen ano
3 per cent potash.
curina Houses Solves Marketing
Problem.
Curing and storage houses are now
soinr up rapidly all over the South.
some Of these are established on the
individual farm for the individual
crop. but many large houses to store
the community crop are also being con-
.tructsd. The curing house saves
from s5 to 50 per cent OF the crop IN
excs,ieat condition for food as CON
t,asted to a former loss OF from ~
to 100 per cent OF the roots under tho
old system Of banking and handling.
A storage house may be constructed
for about SO cents a bushei for houses
Of from 500 to $500 bushels capacity
.nS for 20 cents per bushel for larger
housss. Plans for these houses may
b cSts;ned fres Of charge ron ths
uaitsA States Department Of Asrsoat