Oxford eagle. (Oxford, Lafayette Co., Miss.) 1876-current, 1920-03-25
'TnE SWEET POTATO.
A MONEY CROP
OF IMPORTANCE
r. H. Jeter, Soil Improvement Com
nnittee.

OF the greatest DRAWBACKS 70 lts suC
cessful establishment has been that NO
adequate means Of curing and storing
had been advised until the last few
years. With the successful operation
of these potato storage houses. how.
ever, the crop gan now be marketed
successfully. It Is probably one OF
the most cheaplx grown crops Of the
South and With proper fertilization.
the least fertile lands can be made to
produce excellent yields. Statistics
show that it is an ordinary accom-
plishment to grow crop OF from zoo
to 400 bushels per acre on most any
soil of average fertility with proper
fertilization. .
Possibilities As q Money Crop. |
!, AS to the money income from the
crop. It must be ,said that 1t com;
pares most favorahly with cotton. Sta
tistics show that sthe average return
from an acre Of cotton amounts TO
about $70.87 per acre. while the re-
turns from an acre Of potatoes
amounts to $13A19. One grower IN
South Carolina reports to the college
that he made a net profit of $1,216.36
on four acres, which is return over
three hundred dollars per acre. This
grower was scareful to keep an accu-
rate accountlof all expenses. including
that of curing;ss marketing and grad
ing his CROP andlhis experience shows
the 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 We'll On Nearly All soi's.
The soil sand climatic conditions OF
the lower South are very favorable
to its GROWTH and produce root much
sweeter and !richer in ,nntriment than
the harder land more starchy tuber
Of the more northern states. The po-
tato makes Ats best yields In the san
der soils. 1t will do well on most
any soil that is we'll drained, but II
grown on soils that are too FERTILE
produces atlarger amount OF vine az
the expense Of thes potatoes. A light
SOIL not too, fertilessy with a firm sub
soil. gives sbest results. II the sub
soil is too loose, and not compact, .
large proportionI of the roots will be
stringy and unfit for market purposes.
Preparation ofsthe soil is about as
for cotton. hesland is broken. laid
of, the fertilizerss applied in the rows
and this bedded upon. The ridge is
generally allowed 70 settle firmly b.
fore the slips or vines are planted. .
Some Lssdins Varieties.
+ AS to varieties. the Nancy Hall
seems to be the prime favorite at this
time. Tie Porto Rico and Triumph
varieties are also very popular and
rank with the Nancy Hall b . good
yielder and 4 market favorite. The
southern Queen and yellow Jersey are
fwo other varieties which have found
favor with some growers.
Liberal Fertilization important.
The 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 fertiiiza'
ton and responds we'll to this treat.
ment. The sweet potato needs com.
plete fertilizer and an application Of
at least from 500 to 1000 pounds per
acre. Some manure may be applied.
hut It should be understood that this
:. on unbalanced plant food. that be.
cause Of it's nitrogen content Will de-
yelop the vine to the detriment OF t9s
roots II applied in too large Quanti'
ties. The same thing is true Of conn
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 To-
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
4 good supply of readily available
phosphorus acid. A formula contain
ing all three OF the necessary ele
ments Of plant food would be. for the
coastal plain region. 9 per cent avail
able phosphoric acid, per cent nitro
gen and per cent potash. For the
Piedmont region. good mixture VIII
contain per cent available phos'
phoric acid. Q per cent nitrogen ana
3 per cent potash.
Curing Houses Solves Marketing
Curing and storage houses are nov
going up rapidly all over the South.
Some Of these are established on the
Individual farm for the individual!
crop. but many large houses to stors
the community crop are also being coY
structed The curing house saves
from sb to ss per cent Of TIE crop q
excellent condition for food - CON
trasted to former loss q from -
to 100 per cent Of the roots under tho
old system Of banking and handing.
A storage house may BE- constructed
for about 80 cents bushel for hours
of from 500 to $500 buahsls coPecitO
and for 40 cents per bushel tor larger
houses. Plans for these houses may
be obtained free Of charge from the
United states Department OF Agricnf
tnre.