POTATO 253 



It is estimated that the United States produces about 

 50,000,000 bushels per year. 



Culture. The sweet potato is raised from sprouts, 

 which are produced abundantly if the potatoes are planted 

 in a hotbed in the early spring. The sprouts are carefully 

 pulled from the potatoes and are planted out after the soil 

 has become warm. They should be set two feet apart in 

 rows four feet apart. They need considerable care until 

 started, after which they require good cultivation only, 

 and are easily grown. The vines spread on the ground and 

 have a tendency to root at the joints, which should be 

 discouraged by moving them at every hoeing. They are 

 very susceptible to cold weather and should be pulled as 

 soon as the tops are frosted. There are many cultivated 

 varieties in the South. For the Northern states, Early 

 Carolina is perhaps the best. 



THE POTATO FAMILY (Order Solanaceae) 



The Potato Family is made up of mostly herbaceous 

 plants with rank-scented herbage (this and the fruit more 

 commonly narcotic-poisonous), colorless juice, alternate 

 leaves, regular' flowers with the parts usually in fives. 

 There are many poisonous plants in this group, which fact 

 led to the tomato's being regarded with much suspicion for 

 many years, and the tops of potatoes and even tubers that 

 have become green by exposure to sunlight contain a 

 poisonous principle. Besides the potato, tomato, eggplant, 

 pepper, and strawberry tomato, whose cultural directions 

 are here given, tobacco, petunia, Nightshade, Datura, 

 Salpiglossis, Jerusalem cherry, and Nierembergia of the 

 gardens, belong to this family. 



