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ington, and seed has been reported as having formed on sweet 

 potatoes in southern Florida." — -L. C. Corbett, Horticulturist 

 in Charge, Horticultural and Pomological Investigations, U. S. 

 Dept. of Agriculture. 



(2) "On several occasions we have procured seed of sweet 

 potatoes and have grown a large number of seedlings in an 

 experimental way. We have also produced seed by cross-pol- 

 lination in this country by making cuttings of the majority of 

 the varieties of sweet potatoes and carrying them through the 

 winter in pots in the greenhouse. They bloom profusely the 

 second season and it is possible to produce seed. We have not, 

 however, in any of our work produced a strain or variety that 

 seemed to us to be sufficiently superior to our standard varieties 

 to warrant our continuing its propagation. The sweet potato 

 seeds rather freely in Porto Rico, Cuba, and elsewhere in the 

 tropics, the tendency, however, of the seedlings so produced is 

 to revert largely to types not considered desirable by our com- 

 mercial growers. There is room, however, for some definite 

 breeding work with the sweet potato, but this work should 

 properly be done in Florida or at some other point where there 

 is a long growing season." — -W. R. Beattie, Extension Horti- 

 culturist, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. 



(3) "Several of the workers in the Southern sections, par- 

 ticularly Florida, Louisiana, Alabama, etc., state that the sweet 

 potato blooms and seeds rather freely in their sections. In fact 

 the claim is made that many of the varieties now being grown 

 are chance seedlings, originating in the sections indicated above. 

 The plant blooms as far north as Washington, D. C. We are 

 doing considerable greenhouse work with the plant and hope by 

 lengthening the growing season, it may be possible to induce 

 seed formation. 



"We have some seed sent in by Prof. J. B. Thompson of the 

 Experiment Station at St. Croix, Virgin Islands. We will at- 

 tempt to propagate from this seed in the hopes that some prom- 

 ising sorts may be secured." — James H. Beattie, Horticulturist, 

 U. S. Department of Agriculture. 



Virgin Islands, (i) "I have been in the Philippines and 

 Hawaii, also in the Island of Guam. In all these countries I have 

 endeavored to obtain seed of the sweet potato at certain times 

 but never succeeded. I am not sure whether in the plantings 

 I particularly attempted to obtain seed from there was more 

 than one variety or not. Here I obtained my seed from a 

 planting where 3 varieties were planted side by side and seed 

 was produced on all varieties. I noticed that bees were working 

 on the flowers about the time they began to flower and some of 

 the seedlings from Black Rock, for instance, show every evidence 

 of having been crossed by the Big Wig variety. It is possible 



