The Sweet Potato. 



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I. ORIGIN AND HISTORY. 

 A. Origin. 



There are tropical shores where cocoanuts and 

 bananas do not thrive; there are tropical districts 

 where the sweet potato is unknown. Both are excep- 

 tions. In the far East, where rice is the daily food 

 of millions ; on a thousand isles of the Pacific, where 

 bananas and cocoanuts are the common fare ; in the 

 lands of the Aztecs and Incas, where beans are the 

 national dish, the sweet potato is universally culti- 

 vated. Even in the great country where "Corn is 

 King" and wheat the "Staff of Life" it has been 

 for hundreds of years a favorite among the vege- 

 tables. 



But that has not always been so. 



The sweet potato has spread over the entire 

 tropics and sub-tropics within the last four hundred 

 years. Whence it came is a much-discussed ques- 

 tion. There are two opinions regarding its origin, 

 one that it is American, the other that it is Asiatic. 

 De Candolle, after summing up the arguments in 

 favor of both, concludes that it is probably Ameri- 

 can, but does not commit himself. He has often been 

 criticised as basing his opinion upon inadequate 

 evidence. With a view to ascertaining what con- 

 clusions the evidence at hand really warrants, the 



