SWEET POTATO 



269 



SWEET POTATO (Ipomoea Batatas) is a tender 

 plant grown for its tuberous roots. North of New 

 Jersey it is seldom grown except by amateurs, as it 

 requires a long season. The plants are started from 

 tubers set in a mild hotbed; sprouts (or "draws") will 

 rise and root themselves, when they are cut off without 

 disturbing the potatoes, which send up a second crop. 

 From the sprouts when set in the field vines will spring, 

 and by cuttings taken from their tips, more vines may 

 be propagated. The 

 plant requires a 

 rich, loose soil, pref- 

 erably deep ; cul- 

 ture is simple, but 

 diseases are trouble- 

 some ; the tubers 



should be dug as 



soon as the vines have been touched with frost, and 

 should be stored out of the reach of frost. Varieties 

 are exceedingly numerous and difficult of classification ; 

 there is a vineless kind. 



Soil rich, light, loose and quick. Stable manure 

 may be used, or a fertilizer of nitrogen 3 per cent, 

 phosphoric acid 7 per cent, potash 12 per cent (Voor- 

 hees). Either should be well worked into the soil be- 

 fore the sprouts are set, and may be put along the rows. 



Distances. Set sprouts or cuttings eighteen inches 

 by two to three feet. 



- 129 - Tubers of Sweet Potato. 



