240 JOURNAL OF THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 13, No. 11 
The sweet potato is second in importance of our vegetable crops, but pre- 
vious to a few years ago it was looked upon as one of the most hazardous 
crops, as it was very difficult to keep, as storage methods for other vegetables 
were found to be unsuited to this crop. Satisfactory storage methods and 
storage houses have been devised, and it is now an easy matter to make the 
vegetable available for practically the entire year. Over 3000 so-called 
Government type storage houses with a capacity of about 12,000,000 bushels 
are now in use. Experimental work extending over a period of several 
years and summarized in Departmental Bulletin 1063, Sweet potato storage 
studies, shows that standard varieties of sweet potatoes can be kept in this 
type of house for periods of from 5 to 6 months with losses of less than 1 per 
cent from decay. 
Sweet potato varieties and sweet potato nomenclature have been, and are, 
badly confused. About 1905, F. J. Tyler, worked out the basis of a key for 
the identification of sweet potato varieties based on: 
I. Leaves deeply lobed or parted. 
1. Leaves with purple stain at base of leaf blade. 
2. Leaves without purple stain at base of leaf blade. 
II. Leaves not deeply lobed or parted. 
1. Leaves with purple stain at base of leaf blade. 
2. Leaves without purple stain at base of leaf blade. 
Other characters taken into account in connection with these main dis- 
tinguishing characteristics were, stems purple or green, length of petioles, length 
of vines, size, shape and color of potatoes and color of flesh. The key is based 
mainly on botanical characters. For a full discussion reference is made to 
Departmental Bulletin 1921, entitled Group classification and varietal de- 
scription of American varieties of sweet potatoes. Through the use of this key 
some 40 varieties have been recognized as such. 
Adjournment was followed by a social hour. 
Roy G. Pierce, Recording Secretary. 
SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS 
At the Annual Meeting of the National Academy of Sciences held in 
Washington on April 23, 24, and 25, the following officers were elected for 
the ensuing year: President, A. A. Micuenson; Vice-President, J. C. Mur- 
RAM; Foreign Secretary, R. A. Miturkan; Home Secretary, Davin WuIts; 
Treasurer, F. L. RANSOME. 
The National Academy of Sciences elected to membership the following 
scientists: 8. I. Barney, Harvard Observatory; J. H. Breastep, University 
of Chicago; E. W. Brown, Yale University; C. H. ErgzenmMaAnn, University 
of Indiana; YANDELL Henperson, Yale University; M. A. Hown, New York 
Botanical Garden; Max Mason, University of Wisconsin; E. D. MERRILL, 
Bureau of Science, Manila; E. L. Orrz, Washington University, St. Louis; 
LEoNHARD SresneceR, U. 8. National Museum; G. F. Swary, Harvard 
University; R. C. Totman, California Institute of Technology; D. L. Wxs- 
sTER, Stanford University; F. E. Wricut, Geophysical Laboratory, Carnegie 
Institution of Washington; R. M. Yerkes, National Research Council. 
G. P. Merritt, R. B. Moorn, and T. W. VauGHaN were elected to mem- 
bership in the American Philosophical Society at the meeting on April 21. 
