Part 22

This is called "Zuckerwurzel" (Sugar root) in Germany. The plump, fleshy roots are sweet and used boiled during winter, the same as Salsify.--(S. Dak. E. S. 68.)

SORREL.

This plant resembles the weed "sour dock" of the fields. The leaves are large, tender and juicy, very broad and often 10 inches long, retaining the pleasant acid flavor of the original weed. Much prized in France where it is cultivated as a spring vegetable and used singly or mixed with spinach.--(Mich. E. S. 20; U. Idaho E. S. 10.)

SPINACH.

Spinach thrives in a rather cool climate and attains its best development in the Middle South, where it can be grown in the open ground during the winter. Large areas are grown near Norfolk, Va., cuttings being made at anytime during the winter when the fields are not frozen or covered with snow. When the weather moderates in the early spring the plants make a new growth, and a large crop of early greens is available. North of the latitude of Norfolk, spinach can be planted in the autumn and carried over winter by mulching with straw or leaves. Sow the seeds in drills 1 foot apart at the rate of 1 ounce to 100 feet of row or 10 to 12 pounds to the acre. To produce good spinach, a rich loam which will give the plants a quick growth is required. As ordinarily grown, it occupies the land during the autumn and winter only and does not interfere with summer cultivation. It is an easily grown garden crop, and there is, perhaps, no other of its kind that will give as good satisfaction. Three or four ounces of seed, planted in the autumn after a summer crop has been harvested from the land, will produce an abundance of greens for the average family during the late autumn and early spring. In gathering spinach the entire plant is removed rather than merely cutting off the leaves. The larger plants are selected first, and the smaller or later ones are thus given room to develop. No thinning is required if this plan of harvesting is practiced.--(F. B. 255; Mich. E. S. 20; U. Id. E. S. 10; N. C. E. S. 132.)

SQUASH.

There are two types of the squash, the bush varieties, which may be planted in hills 4 or 5 feet apart each way, and the running varieties, which will require from 8 to 16 feet for their development. Squashes may properly be grown in the garden, as 3 or 4 hills will produce all that are required for family use. They require practically the same soil and cultural methods as the muskmelon. A number of varieties are used during the summer in the same manner as vegetable marrow, but squashes are principally used during the winter, in much the same way as pumpkins, to which they are superior in many respects. Squashes are also used extensively for pie purposes. The varieties known as Hubbard and Boston Marrow are most commonly grown. Squashes, like pumpkins, should be handled carefully to avoid bruising, and should be stored in a moderately warm but well ventilated room.--(F. B. 255; Mich. E. S. 190; S. Dak. E. S. 42, 68.)

STACHYS.

This vegetable, known to the botanists as Stachys sieboldi, has been introduced into America from Japan and has a number of different names, such as Japanese potato, Chinese artichoke, chorogi, etc., but the name stachys seems to have been adopted as the common one in this country. The plant is a small perennial belonging to the mint family and produces just below the ground a multitude of small, white, crisp edible tubers, varying from an inch to two and one-half inches in length, and about one-half an inch in thickness and marked by irregular spiral rings, which give them a corkscrew-like appearance.

Stachys has been tested at the New York (Cornell) and a number of the other agricultural experiment stations, and proved so easy of cultivation and pleasant in taste (the flavor resembling artichokes) that the vegetable has made many friends and is now procurable at the markets in most of our larger cities. The agreeable quality is in considerable measure due to the crispness of the tubers, and as this disappears when they are exposed to the air they should be stored in sand or sawdust. They are ready for use when the plant dies down in the autumn, though they may be easily carried over the winter and are prepared for the table like potatoes or other vegetables, or may be eaten raw like radishes.--(F. B. 295.)

SWEET BASIL.

The leaves are used for flavoring purposes.

SWEET CORN.

Plant sweet corn as soon as the soil is warm in the spring, and make successive plantings every two weeks until July, or the same result can be attained to some extent by a careful selection of early, medium, and late varieties. Plant the seeds in drills 3 feet apart and thin to a single stalk every 10 to 14 inches, or plant 5 to 6 seeds in hills 3 feet apart each way, and thin out to 3 to 5 stalks in a hill. Cover the seeds about 2 inches deep. Cultivate frequently and keep down all weeds, removing suckers from around the base of the stalk.

Sweet corn should be planted on rich land, and the method of cultivation is practically the same as for field corn, but should be more thorough. There are a number of good early varieties, and for a midsummer and late sort there is none better than Stowell's Ever-green.--(F. B. 255; N. J. E. S. 199; S. Dak. E. S. 91.)

SWEET MARJORAM.

Leaves and ends of shoots used for seasoning.

SWEET POTATO.

Owing to the tropical nature of the sweet potato it naturally thrives best in the South Atlantic and Gulf Coast States, but it may be grown for home use as far north as southern New York and westward along that latitude to the Rocky Mountains. The climatic requirements for the production of sweet potatoes on a commercial scale are (1) a growing period of at least four and half months without frost, (2) warm nights and abundant sunshine during the day, and (3) a moderate rainfall during the growing period. Where irrigation is depended upon for the supply of moisture, the greatest quantity of water should be applied between the time the plants are set in the field and the time when the vines practically cover the ground. If too much water is applied during the latter part of the season the result may be an abundant growth of vine and a small yield of stringy potatoes. For some time before harvesting the crop the water should be withheld altogether, in order that the roots may ripen properly.

Soil.--Sweet potatoes thrive on a moderately fertile sandy loam which does not contain an excess of organic matter. They are frequently grown upon almost pure sand, especially where the subsoil is a yellow clay. Soils containing considerable calcium or underlain with limestone are well adapted to the growing of the crop. The sweet potato is exceptional in that a fairly good crop can be grown upon soils that are too poor for the production of the majority of farm crops. Sweet potatoes yield a fair crop on the "worn-out" tobacco and cotton lands of the South, especially when used in a rotation including some leguminous crop for increasing the humus in the soil. Like many other crops, the sweet potato thrives on newly cleared land, but the crop should not be planted continuously in the same place. With the sweet potato, as with other crops, rotation is the keynote of success.

Good drainage is essential, the original idea of planting upon high ridges being for the purpose of securing better drainage. The surface soil should extend to a depth of 6 or 8 inches, and the subsoil should be of such a nature that it will carry off excessive moisture without leaching away the fertilizers applied to the land. Too great a depth of loose surface soil or an alluvial soil having no subsoil will produce long, irregular potatoes that are undesirable for marketing. Planting upon land having a loose, sandy surface soil underlain by a well-drained clay subsoil will tend to produce the type of rather thick, spindle-formed potato that commands the highest price. The depth of plowing is a prominent factor in the preparation of land for sweet potatoes, and on soils of too great depth before the subsoil is reached very shallow plowing should be practiced, leaving the soil firm beneath, against which the roots must force their way. If the surface soil is of insufficient depth, it should be gradually increased by plowing a little deeper each year or by subsoiling in the furrow behind the regular turning plow.

Fertilizers.--The root portion of the plant is the part having the greatest value, though the foliage and vines have some value as food for certain kinds of stock. It has been found that an excessive amount of organic matter in the soil will frequently produce an abundant growth of vines at the expense of the roots. It has also been noted that the potatoes will be small and the yield unsatisfactory on soils that do not contain sufficient organic matter to produce a fair growth of vine. The use of stable manure as a fertilizer for sweet potatoes is recommended on lands that are deficient in organic matter. Heavy applications of fresh manure shortly before planting the land to sweet potatoes will stimulate not only the growth of weeds but also of the vines at the expense of the roots. Well-rotted stable manure may be used at the rate of 10 to 15 carloads to the acre, spread broadcast or beneath the ridges and harrowed into the soil, but it is always well to apply the manure with the crop grown the previous season. By this method the manure will become thoroughly incorporated with the soil and become somewhat reduced before the sweet potatoes are planted upon the land. Stable manure will be found most beneficial on worn-out soils, but on the more fertile soils its use should be restricted and the method of application carefully studied.

The sweet potato is one of the few crops that thrive equally as well (or better) upon commercial fertilizers as upon stable manure. A fertilizer for use on the majority of sweet potato lands should contain 3 to 6 per cent of nitrogen, 6 or 7 per cent of phosphoric acid, and 8 to 10 per cent of potash. Every grower should make a study of the requirements of his soil and apply the fertilizer that will give the best results. Many growers purchase the ingredients and mix their own special fertilizers, or use a standard fertilizer as a base and increase the percentage of certain elements by adding high-grade elementary ingredients. Some soils require that certain elements should be in a more available form than others; in the case of nitrogen it is often desirable to have a portion of that contained in the fertilizer quickly available and the remainder more slowly in order to feed the plants throughout the season. A mixture adapted to the growing of sweet potatoes on most soils may be made by combining the following:

200 pounds of high-grade sulphate of ammonia, 25 per cent pure. 200 pounds of dried blood, or 300 pounds of fish scrap. 1,200 pounds of acid phosphate, 11 per cent pure. 400 pounds of high-grade muriate of potash, 50 per cent pure.

The quantity of fertilizer that may be profitably applied will be governed entirely by local conditions. Many growers do not depend upon commercial fertilizers, but merely apply from 200 to 300 pounds to each acre as a supplement to the organic matter and natural fertility of the soil. Others apply from 300 to 1,000 pounds, according to the condition of the soil, while a few growers use a ton to the acre. The general rule is to apply the fertilizer in the row where the crop is to be grown, but where large quantities are used it should be distributed at least ten days before planting and thoroughly incorporated with the soil. An application of 1,000 pounds of high-grade fertilizer placed in the row at planting time has been known to injure seriously or kill the plants. For the best results the fertilizer should be applied at least ten days before planting, or a portion of the fertilizer may be applied a month or more in advance and the remainder at the time of preparing the land for planting. Hardwood ashes are desirable for use on sweet potato land and may be applied at the rate of from 1,200 to 2,000 pounds to the acre. The value of wood ashes depends upon how much they have become leached, but hardwood ashes should contain from 6 to 8 per cent of available potash. Wood ashes also contain considerable lime.

Where large quantities of any green crop are plowed into the soil there is a tendency to sourness, and occasional applications of from 1 to 2 tons of lime to the acre are beneficial. The presence of an abundance of lime in soils devoted to the growing of sweet potatoes hastens the maturity of the crop and increases the yield. On poor soils the lime and potash work together to produce potatoes of uniform size and shape, but on rich or alluvial soils the tendency is toward the production of over-large and irregular roots. The lime should be applied the previous season, or at least the autumn before planting the land to sweet potatoes.

Propagation of Plants.--The more common varieties of the sweet potato have for a great many years been propagated by cuttings, or sets, taken either from the potatoes themselves or from growing vines, and as a result the plants have ceased to flower and produce seed. The greater portion of the commercial crop is grown from sets, or "draws," produced by sprouting medium-sized potatoes in a warm bed of soil.

Where only a small area of sweet potatoes is to be grown for home use, the necessary plants can generally be secured from some one who makes a business of growing them. If an acre or more is to be planted it will in most cases be more economical to prepare a bed and grow the plants. The method of starting the plants will depend upon the locality and the acreage to be planted, the essentials being a bed of warm earth and a covering to protect the young plants during the early springtime.