THE SWEET POTATO. 15 



with the actual couditions of agriculture there. As 

 he was commissioued especially to gather useful 

 information about plants in the colonies, and as he 

 resided for years in the very district in which sweet 

 potatoes were a staple crop, his observations are cer- 

 tainly entitled to the greatest weight. His remarks 

 are therefore given in full : 



"This excellent root seems to merit the prefer- 

 ence of all others, not only in regard to the whole- 

 someness and delicacy of its food, but for its more 

 general use to mankind than any other root, it being 

 one great part, if not the principal subsistence of 

 the greater part of Africa, and is likewise in great 

 use, both in America and in the Southern parts of 

 Asia. They being of so easy culture, so quick of 

 growth, and of so vast an increase, that the propa- 

 gating it seems more agreeable to the indolence of 

 the Barbarians than cultivating grains, which 

 requires a longer time, with more labor and uncer- 

 tainty. In all our Colonies of xVmerica, as well 

 Islands as Continent, these roots are in great esteem 

 and use; the common White People, as well as the 

 Negro slaves, subsisting much upon them, nor are 

 they thought unworthy a place at principal tables. 

 In Virginia and to the North thereof they are 

 annuals and produce no flowers. They plant them 

 in March and dig them up in October, and to prevent 

 their rotting, keep them in holes underground near 

 their fires. In Carolina, where the winters are more 

 moderate, they are not necessitated to keep them so 

 warm; and in Bahamas Islands, and other places 

 between the Tropicks, they are perennial and pro- 

 duce flowers, yet are annually planted. The most 

 kinds and best potatoes that I have observed were 

 in Virginia, and because the names they are called 



