ground to form hills, which soon dry out and are difficult to water.[1]
The only plant requiring hills or ridges is the Sweet Potato. Throw several furrows together with a plow and draw the soil up with a hoe, to form a tapering ridge, two feet high and three foot wide at the bottom. The plants, which are obtained by planting the tubers in a hotbed, are planted two feet apart on top of this ridge. Being of tropical origin, the sweet potato plants should never be planted till danger from frost is over. One hoeing is generally sufficient, as the vines soon cover the ridge, but these should not be allowed to take root, as that diminishes the productiveness of the plant. Late varieties are of better quality than the early ones.
PEPPERS, GUMBO AND LEEKS.
No garden is complete without at least a few plants of peppers, gumbo and leeks. To grow Peppers to perfection, the young plants should be grown in the hotbed and be transplanted to very rich soil, from twelve to eighteen inches apart, according to variety. When they commence blooming, a liberal quantity of hen manure should be strewn around each plant and be hoed in. This will increase the product
- ↑ We think that the melons, cucumbers, etc., get a better start (and we would include the pole beans) when the hill for seed is raised slightly above the surface, as it greatly lessens the danger of the young seedlings “damping off,” and instead of the watering, which is here claimed to be necessary, we would suggest a thorough loosening of the soil around the roots.—Ed.
