FIELD CROPS 291 



sprouts that grow in spring, and any part of the potato itself 

 that has turned green by exposure to light. 



The chief troubles to which the potato crop is liable in 

 California and on the Pacific Slope generally are the potato 

 worm and the scab (see page 247). The striped potato 

 beetle, which has given so much trouble in the East, has 

 not reached the Pacific Coast. 



The sweet potato, or batata (whence the name " po- 

 tato >J ); has been known and cultivated much longer than 

 the ' i Irish " potato, both in South America and Asia. It 

 belongs to the morning-glory family. It makes long 

 vines that climb and twine when given a chance, and 

 has yellowish white morning-glory flowers when the 

 season is long enough. It grows best in warm, tem- 

 perate, and tropical climates, and is cultivated in such 

 countries all the world over. Unlike the common 

 potato, it is an enlarged root, which has no buds or 

 "eyes." But if buried in a hotbed with plenty of 

 manure, it will make many sprouts or setSj which can 

 then be set out in the fields. 



In warm, moist climates the sweet potatoes are often cut 

 into pieces like the common potato for planting. This plan 

 is not so successful in the dry climates of the Pacific Slope. 

 Here it is grown in rows on level ground, while in the Gulf 

 states it is always planted on ridges thrown up by the plow, so 

 as to prevent its getting drowned out in case of heavy rains. 

 The roots grown there are much sweeter and less starchy 

 than those grown in dry climates or farther north. 



There are a great many varieties of sweet potatoes ; the 



