THE SWEET POTATO. 36 



be raised in some of our Southern States, I refer the 

 reader to the Bulletins of the agricultural stations, 

 referring to tests of fertilizers and tests of varie- 

 ties. These can easily be found in the catalogue of 

 the Department of Agriculture. 



We find there that crops of 400-600 bushels per 

 acre in a good season, and 300-500 in a dry season, 

 are not rare, and that 800-1,000 bushels per acre 

 have been obtained in experiment station work. The 

 writer does not for a moment suppose that 1,000 

 bushels per acre could be raised everywhere even 

 in the South, where the season is as long as at 

 Baton Rouge, but it seems that 500 bushels should 

 constitute more nearly the average yield of some 

 varieties than 60 to 120 bushels. 



At present the yield per acre in our principal 

 sweet potato States is far below that. 



The following table gives the total yield and the 

 number of acres cultivated in sweet potatoes, as 

 given in the United States Twelfth Census Eeport, 

 and the approximate yield per acre : 



Bushels 

 Bushels. Acres. Per Acre. 



North Carolina 5,781,587 68,730 84 



Georgia 5,087,674 70,620 72 



Virginia 4,470,602 40,681 110 



Alabama 3,457,386 



South Carolina 3,369,957 48,831 69 



Texas 3,299,135 43,561 76 



Mississippi 2,817,386 36,169 78 



New Jersey 2,418,641 20,588 113 



Louisiana 1,865,482 27,372 68 



Tennessee 1,571,575 27,372 67 



From this we can see that Louisiana, where the 

 heaviest crops have been raised on one of the 

 experiment stations, is almost at the bottom of the 



