SYVKKT I'O'I \ hi 



IPOMCEA 

 BATATAS 



apart and at a depth of about nix inchott within trenchaa filled with farm* 

 Manure. As the plants grow, stakes require to be fixed fur th.-m to i-im,!, 



ini may be expected in the third year, and every tliinl year there- 

 lit Ootacauumd it has been found that an acre <>t jul.ip yields 5,000 II.. 

 of green tubers, or say 1,000 Ib. of powder. The drying proceac iii i liHi ult one, 

 iiv<|u.'iitly considerable losa through m.Hildinew and iiion. 



.lid this n\tiy be prevented by cutting the tubercles in -| 



M.-ilii iinilly, jalap is wull known as a hydragogue purgative, its action being 



.lu.' tn i-t'i-taiii ivsimms principles. The selling price has been given at about 



PIT oz. [<7/. Nicholls, Textbook Trop. Agri., 18!)2, 237-40; Hooper, 



/ I'hosphatic Man. on Growth of JaUifi (Id-print from Pharm. Journ.). 

 Kew Bull,, 1897, 302 ; Brit. Pharmacop., 1898, 165 ; Thorpe, Diet. Appl. 



, 1900, iii., 349 ; Pharm. Soc. Miu. Rept., 1895-1902, 62-3 ; Pharm. 

 i., M>04, Ixxii., 284-5.] 

 I. Turpethum (HOO Operculina Turpethum, p. 822). 



I. Batatas, Lamk. ; Duthie and Fuller, Field and Garden Crops, Sweet 

 1893, iii., 12, tt. 87-8 ; Rec, Bot. Surv. Ind., ii., 41, 120, 185; iii., 80, 245. Potft to. 

 S\vc(t Potato, mita-dlu, ranga-dlu, chine dlu, shakarkand, vallikildngu, etc. 



Habitat. Presumably a native of America, but is extensively cultivated in 

 India. Two forms are met with, one with red, the other with white tubers. 

 Evidence points to its having apparently reached the Pacific Islands in prehistoric 

 times, and to a cultivation in China in the second or third century of our era. 

 Asa Gray (Scient. Papers, 1889, i., 317-20), reviewing the account given in De 

 ( 'iinilolle'8 Origin of Cultivated Plants, gives full particulars of the literary evidence 

 in favour of an American origin. The first mention of the plant appears to be 

 by Peter Martyr, who in the 9th book of his 2nd Decade (written about 1514), 

 gives Batatce among the fruits of the province of Uraba, Darien, and in his 

 3rd Decade names them among the plants growing in Honduras when Columbus 

 landed in 1502. Other early Spanish travellers, e.g. Cieca de Leon, Jean de 

 Lery, etc., also refer to the finding of sweet potatoes in Peru and Brazil. Clusius, 

 moreover (Bar. Stirp. Hist., 1576, ii., 297-9), states pointedly that they grow 

 wild in the New World and adjoining islands, whence brought to Spain. Nothing 

 very definite can be learned of its introduction into India. The plant is figured 

 and described by Rheede (Hort. Mai., 1688, vii., 95, t. 50) and by Rumphius 

 (Herb. Amb., 1750, v., 370, t. 130). Carey (As. Res., 1808, x., 18) discusses the 

 method of cultivation pursued in Dinajpur, and Roxburgh (Fl. Ind., i., 483) 

 speaks of the red sort as cultivated all over the warmer parts of Asia. 



Cultivation. The area under the sweet potato in India cannot be Cultiva- 

 definitely ascertained. It is grown all over the country from the Panjab, tion - 

 the United Provinces, Rajputana, Central India, the Central Provinces, 

 Bengal, Assam, Bombay, Madras and Burma. In Bengal it is more 

 important in the eastern tracts, such as Bogra and Bhagalpur, than in the 

 western and central divisions. Taking India as a whole, it is planted 

 from August to November and reaped from Dedember to May, the varia- saon. 

 tions being a consequence of local climatic conditions and methods of 

 propagation. A full account of its production in Bombay is given by 

 Mollison (Textbook Ind. Agri., 1901, iii., 193-7), of which the following 

 summary may be accepted as true of India generally. The best soil is a 

 light friable one, well prepared by deep tillage. The crop does not 

 thrive unless the land be naturally dry. It is generally grown during the 

 cold season and under irrigation, but on light, dry land a rain crop may be 

 produced. The land is prepared during the monsoon by frequent plough- 

 ings, and in September farmyard manure at the rate of thirty cart-loads 

 per acre is given. Before planting, irrigation beds are formed of various 

 sizes according to local circumstances. 



Planting usually takes place in October-November. The crop is Propagation, 

 propagated by cuttings from fairly mature portions of the stem, each 

 with three nodes or leaf-buds. Two nodes are placed underground, 2 



687 



