SWEET POTATO. 91 



during winter, not taking any portion of the old root in 

 connection with the slips, and set them in rows ten inches 

 asunder, and six inches apart in the rows. They will soon 

 strike, and produce roots of suitable size for use in August 

 or September. 



TA raise Seeds. The plants that have remained in the 

 ground during the winter, if not disturbed, will send up 

 stalks as before described, and ripen their seeds at the close 

 of the summer. Two or three plants will yield all the 

 seeds ordinarily required for a single garden. 



Use. The roots Avere formerly much esteemed, but are 

 now neglected for those greatly inferior. When cooked and 

 served as salsify or scorzonera, they are the whitest and 

 sweetest of esculent roots, and afford a considerable portion 

 of nourishment. 



There are no varieties. 



SWEET POTATO. 



Spanish Potato. Carolina Potato. Convolvulus batatas. 

 Ipomoea batatas. 



The Sweet Potato is indigenous to both the East and West 

 Indies. Where its growth is natural the plant is perennial ; 

 but, in cultivation, it is always treated as an annual. The 

 stem is running or climbing, round and slender ; the leaves 

 are heart-shaped and smooth, with irregular, angular lobes ; 

 the flowers, which are produced in small groups of three or 

 four, are large, bell-shaped, and of a violet or purple color ; 

 the seeds are black, triangular, and retain their vitality two 

 or three years, twenty-three hundred are contained in an 

 ounce. 



The plants rarely blossom in the Northern or Middle States, 

 and the perfect ripening of the seeds is of still more rare 



