Like some other vegetables, these are generally supposed to require
special soil and situation to do well, but with plenty of manure and
good cultivation they can be raised of fine size and quality in any
garden. As described in the chapter on hotbeds, the old potatoes are
planted in a warm bed, about the first of April, and when the ground is
prepared, these are taken up and the sprouts broken off close to the
potato. The potatoes should be buried two or three inches deep in the
bed, which will give each shoot a bunch of fine roots when it is broken
off. When the nights are warm, and the trees well out in leaf, plow a
double furrow where the row of sweet potatoes is to be; that is, run
the plow each way in the same furrow; then fill in two or three inches
of fine manure, and plow the furrows back again, forming a ridge over
the manure. In the centre of this ridge plant the sets about one foot
apart; they must be kept well cultivated, and the running vines must
not be allowed to strike root into the soil, or they will form lots
of small potatoes, and none large enough for use; some gardeners keep
the vines coiled round the central plant, but the easier way is to
throw the vines from two rows together, then cultivate the side left
bare, and throw them back again, cultivating the other side; after the
first time they need not be moved but once for each cultivation, as the
blank side can be cultivated and the vines thrown over on it, leaving
the other side free, which can be cultivated first the next time it is
done, and the vines thrown back. Throwing the vines over can be done
very quickly by running a rake handle or long light pole under them,
and throwing its whole length of them over at once: they can be dug as
soon as large enough for use, by scraping the dirt away from the side
of the hill, the potatoes pulled off, and the vines left to form more.
The whole crop should be dug as soon as the vines are blackened by the
first frost, and spread out in a cool dry place, where there will be no
danger of their freezing. On account of the vines taking so much room,
the rows should be at least five feet apart.