278 THE CHIEF SOUTHERN AGRICULTURAL CROPS 



The seed of these crops may there be planted directly 

 in the field and the plants then thinned to a stand, 

 but even here it is more usual to plant in seed beds 

 and move them to the fields when from six to eight 

 inches high. 



Sweet potatoes {Ipomoea) deserve a word of special 

 mention, not only because they are widely grown as a 

 truck crop, but from their importance in the home 

 economy of every Southern farm. They are grown as 

 universally as are Irish potatoes at the North, and not 

 only furnish a standard vegetable for the table but are 

 much used for stock food. The vines, too, make a 

 rich forage. They are particularly useful for hogs. 

 These animals are turned into special fields, planted 

 for the purpose, to dig for themselves, or after the 

 crop is harvested they are allowed to glean the roots 

 and small potatoes that have been missed in digging. 

 The small potatoes that are unfit for market make 

 excellent feed for milch cows and horses. 



At the North sweet potatoes are always propagated 

 by bedding the small ones in the spring and pulling 

 up the numerous sprouts that spring from them to 

 take to the field. At the South a small field is usually 

 planted in this way in the spring, but the main 

 plantings are made at midsummer with vine cuttings 

 taken from this early field. In the tropics vine cut- 

 tings only are used, since they are available all the 

 year round. This custom lias, however, led to the 

 gradual loss of productiveness. Experiments have 

 shown that by occasionally returning to the Northern 

 method and planting the suckers that spring from the 

 potatoes themselves the yield can be very considerably 



