62 THE SWEET POTATO. 



men for that kind of work, and there is no doubt but 

 that every one of these descriptions fits the sweet 

 potato known by the particular worker as ' ' Southern 

 Queen. ' ' 



The question might well be asked : How can such 

 statements be reconciled f Much has been said about 

 the variability of varieties, yet it seems hardly pos- 

 sible that such changes affecting everything that is 

 regarded as essential in a sweet potato should occur 

 in the same variety. That sweet potatoes vary con- 

 siderably is certainly true. This is just as true, 

 however, with other plants long in cultivation, as, 

 for instance, corn, the common bean, the banana, 

 cabbage, etc. Still in all these we can distinguish 

 certain types, which may be variable in their repre- 

 sentatives, but which differ enough from each other 

 to be easily distinguished. So we have dent corn, 

 flint corn, sweet corn, pop corn; the drumhead and 

 Wakefield cabbage, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, 

 kale, etc., and similarly different types of the bean 

 and banana. The sweet potato types certainly are 

 not nearly as distinct as those of cabbage or corn, 

 but they are perhaps as well marked as those of the 

 bean. 



Now, what has been done to distinguish these 



tvpes ? 



' In Farmers' Bulletin 129, 1902, Mr. Nesbit says, 

 concerning classification : 



''Classifications of varieties based on different 

 principles have been attempted without, as yet, res- 

 cuing the subject from disorder. The most elabor- 

 ate system, and perhaps the only one worthy of a 

 name, is that adopted by R. A. Price, horticulturist 

 of the Texas Experiment Station in 1893, which he 

 calls the 'Foliage System.' He divides sweet pota- 



