Page:How and what to grow in a kitchen garden of one acre (IA howwhattogrowin00darl).pdf/194

 ground to form hills, which soon dry out and are difficult to water.

The only plant requiring hills or ridges is the. 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.

No garden is complete without at least a few plants of peppers, gumbo and leeks. To grow 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