172 AMERICAN AGRICULTURE. 



in suoh as are dug, they should be carefully sorted and the 

 sound ones well dried, then placed separately in layers and 

 covered with ashes, burnt clay, or fine dry mold. These act 

 as absorbents of moisture, and prevent contagion from such 

 as may be imperceptibly affected. They may also be cut in 

 slices and dried, or crushed and the farinaceous part ex- 

 tracted. By this means the potato will be made to yield 

 nearly all its nutriment. It is found that this disease affects 

 the tissues (the nitrogenized or albumenous part) of the potato 

 only; and for this reason, potatoes which have not been 

 too long or too deeply injured, will yield nearly their full 

 amount of fat for animals or starch for the manufacturer. 



Uses. Besides being an almost indispensable vegetable 

 for the table, potatoes are boiled and mixed with flour or 

 bread, to which they impart a desirable moisture and an 

 agreeable flavor. They are sliced, dried and ground, and 

 much used in Europe as flour, and by the confectioners in 

 their various products. They are also manufactured into 

 tapioca, and when nicely prepared, it is scarcely distinguisha- 

 ble from that of the manioc. In all of these and some 

 other forms, they enter into consumption as human food. 

 They are also used in large quantities by the manufac- 

 turers of starch; to some extent for distilling; and in a 

 less degree for making sugar. The refuse of the pulp, after 

 extracting the starch and the liquor drained from it, are 

 used for cleansing woolens and silks, which they effect with- 

 out injury to the color. But by far the greatest use of pota- 

 toes in this country, is for stock-feeding. They are eaten 

 with avidity by all the brute creation, either cooked or raw. 

 For cattle and sheep, they are equally nutritious in either 

 condition. For horses, they are improved by steaming or 

 baking. Swine and most poultry will subsist on them raw, 

 but will fatten on them only when cooked. Their good ef- 

 fects are much enhanced by mixing with meal when they are 

 hot, which partially cooks it. 



THE SWEET POTATO (Convolvulus batatas, Fig. 42) 



Is a root of very general growth, in the southern, and it is 

 much cultivated in the middle sections of the United 4States. 

 It is scarcely surpassed by any esculent for the table, and it is 

 greadily eaten, and with great advantage, by every species of 

 stock. 



Soil. A dry, loamy soil, inclining to sand, is best for 

 them ; and this should be well manured with compost scatter- 

 ed broadcast, before working the ground, and thoroughly pul- 



