The next operation ordinarily is hoeing. Hand hoeing is one of the most expensive operations and may exceed the cost of planting. To keep down the expense, the writer has used a weeder exten sively. It is rather difficult to use the weeder to accomplish the purpose without destroying many plants. It is important to have the ridges broad, so that the cultivator tooth will not tear down too much of the soil. Furthermore, the weeder must be used before the earth becomes too firmly com pacted by the rain, or before the weed seedlings have come up. In other words, the weeds must be killed while the seeds are germinating in the soil. Hand-hoeing is much cheaper when it is done promptly than when deferred until the weeds and crab-grass form a thick mat on the uncultivated strip. As a rule, two hoeings may be made cheaper than one. If the first hoeing is timely, just as the weeds are beginning to come up, the second one will be extremely light.
Three or four cultivations are commonly prac ticed, although in the South sometimes two are sufficient. In the second cultivation the ordinary cultivator tooth is used and kept at a distance of four or five inches from the plant. On the third or fourth cultivation the vines should be beginning to run. A vine-turning attachment, a special tooth and rod, enables the cultivator to pass through, lifting the vines from its path. Cultivation in Mary land ordinarily ceases early in July. The method usually pursued is to keep the crop clean until the vines begin to cross the rows, then lay by, when the ground will be quickly covered and weeds will stand a poor chance. If occasional bunches of crab-grass or weeds still escape, it is necessary to go over the patch and hand-pick them, as these, especially crab-grass, draw heavily on the yield and are a nuisance in digging.
The vines root at the joints very commonly, especially the Nansemond or the Yellow Jersey, and form numerous potatoes, usually of the size of one's finger or smaller. Little attention need be paid to this by the commercial grower. The Big stern Jersey and many other varieties, while rooting freely, deposit nutriment wholly in the hill.
Digging, storing and marketing.
Digging, storing and marketing the sweet-potato may be considered as two types of operation— digging and marketing from the field in the sum mer and fall, and storing the crop and marketing in the winter.
(1) Marketing from the ,field.—Harvesting the crop to ship direct from the field is a comparatively simple operation. It is best, even with a small
patch, either to plow out the crop or to dig it with a machine-digger, which is essentially a modified plow. If the vines are very heavy it may be nec essary, when using the common plow, to make a trip on one side to cut the vines, and then follow with a furrow, throwing out the potatoes. As soon as the potatoes are plowed out they are lifted and broken from the vines or left on the ridge to dry. After they are surface-dry the pickers gather them in baskets. It is customary to sort the potatoes as they are picked. The picker carries two baskets, —one for primes and the other for seconds. The latter are the small, inferior or misshapen roots. Some growers put all grades together, but this usually is not considered good marketing. The potatoes are barreled in the field, usually in open bead truck barrels, which may be regarded as the commonest package for sweet- potatoes. Where fancy stock is being sold to discriminating mar kets, the potatoes may be put in double-head or special barrels, such as flour barrels, and the heads pressed in, as is customary in barreling apples. The greater part of the crop, however, goes in truck barrels covered with burlap.
Great care should be taken not to keep the po tatoes exposed too long to a very hot sun ; when digging in hot weather it is a good plan to keep the potatoes covered up closely, and haul the bas kets either to the shade of the packing house or to a grove of trees and pack under cover. It is nee essary in hot weather to use ventilated barrels, both in case of the open-head truck barrels and the double-head barrels. Sometimes the potatoes are hauled directly to the city markets in peach baskets or crates.
(2) Sweet-potato storage and winter marketing.— In digging sweet-potatoes for storage, much care is required not to bruise or injure them. The po tatoes are dug preferably just before the first frost, when the crop is as nearly ripe as possible and has nothing further to gain by remaining in the field. This stage at Washington, D. C., is reached about the 5th to the 10th of October. Warm weather is necessary in digging. The pota toes are plowed or thrown out by the digger and are allowed to surface-dry in the sun. Usually, this requires one to two hours, but if the soil is very dry the potatoes may be picked up into bas kets at once and will be surface-dried before they reach the bins.