The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1921-04-20
ON GROWING "SUGARS2gDS'
Suggestions for Care of Sweet Potato
Beds and Setting Of Plants
to the Field.

a the sweet potato slips should
be coming up in the sweet potato bed.
Care should be. taken that the bed Is
kept moist at all times in order TO Ell
courage growth of the slips. Usually
four inches OF sand or sandy loan soil
is placed over the potatoes i n the
bed. This will force the slips TO come
UP through four inches Of soil or sand
When the slips are three inches
above the surface of TIE grouni they
will be large enough to set To the
field. Care should be taken 10 wet
the sweet potato bed thoroughly Two
Or three hours before the, slips. are
drawn; otherwise they may be broker
IN drawing. -
It will require three bushels of 'po-
Gatoes to furnish. sufficient slips TO
plant an acre. One acre transplant
ed early in the season, say during the
middle Of, May, will provide enough
4ine cuttings to set five acres lore.
After the vines have made a growth
of from ten to twelve inches they are
cut and transplanted in the same way
as slips. These cuttings are usually
from eight to ten inches long, and set
their full length in the soil, leaving
two or three buds only above the sur
face. In order that a large number
Of cuttings may be available early IN
the season, it is desirable to trans
plant the first acre Of slips on com
paratiyely rich soil, or to fertilize the
land heavily with 8 commercial fer
tilizer Id order to stimulate a vigorous
growth.
Use Vine Cuttings.
Potatoes grown from cuttings VIII
he freer from disease than those
grown from slips. Therefore, 1t IS oe.
sirable to have as large a per cent o.
the crop as possible produced from
vine cuttings rather than from slips.
Three or four drawings may be mace
from the potato bed, provided the
slips are not allowed to grow too long
before removing them. The slips are
supported by the plant food contained
IN the potato itself, and after the th1ro
drawing is removed, will not sprou"
freely.
In order that the slips or cuttings
may be transplanted to the field as
soon as they are large enough, the
ground where the potatoes are to Dc
planted should be prepared in ad'
yance 80 that advantage may be
taken Of a good season; otherwise IT
may be necessary to water the plants
as they are transplanted to the heid:
This, Of course, is very expensive ano
should be avoided wherever possible.
Distance for Setting.
The usual distance for setting the
plants is from fifteen to eighteen
inches apart in three-foot rows.
When set eighteen inches apart 1t will
require $3.50 plants to set an acre;
II set twelve inches apart, as Is some
times recommended, it will require
14,52O. Potatoes are seldom set as
close as twelve inches in the row,
and this is done only when the tend
ency is for the potatoes to grow 100
large. BY close setting a larger num-
Der of potatoes is produced, but very,
few of the large or jumbo type are
found, the idea being to. produce as
large a percentage as possible OF the
No. 1 potato, that is n that Is mol
more than 3h or less than ~ inches
In diameter.
Preparing and FertiIizing the Land.
After the land for sweets has been
thoroughly plowed. the rows snould
be laid OF three feet and a deep fur-
row opened with a shovel plow. Tne
fertilizer should be applied in this
drill at the rate Of 600 to 500 POUNDS
Der acre, a ridge formed over this fur-
row by running two burrows with a.
half-shovel turn pillow on each SIDE.
The plants should then be set on this
bed. A fertilizer a%nalyzing 8 percent
phosphoric acid, 8 percent nitrogen,
and. three percent potash is recon-
mended for the Piedmont region
whose the soils are clayey, or clayey-
loan. In the central and southern
parts of the state, where the soils are
more or less sandy, a fertilizer analyz-
ing 8 percent phosphoric acid, 8 per-
cent nitrogen, and 6 percent potash is
recommended. The greatest care
should be taken in the preparation OF
the land and the subsequent cultiVa-
ton in order that as high a yield as
possible may. be obtained. We should
to produce not less than: $50
bushels per, acre. Two hundred to
225 bushels are frequently harvested
where the fields are properly plowed'
fortified, and cultivated.
Varieties Recommended.
The Porto Rico, Nancy Hall, n
Triumph are the three varieties now
being grown most extensively in the
South. The Porto Rico IS the mos
popular variety in this state. Inc
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