1754 



SWEET PEA 



SWEET POTATO 



years after Mr. Eckford's introduction of a new variety 

 our seedsmen are able to offer the seed at a price within 

 the reach of every gardener. For a small outlay these 

 novelties can be planted in masses unthought of by 

 European gardeners. 



California has done much more than this for the 

 Sweet Pea, however. The Sweet Pea likes a cool soil 

 and climate, the vines shriveling up during midsummer 

 and succumbing to the red spider during the hot, dry 

 weather which prevails over a very large portion of our 

 country. To a certain extent, therefore, the popularity 

 of this flower has been confined to the cooler northern 

 states. In the effort of nature to adapt the plant to 

 changed conditions, an entirely distinct type of growth 

 soon appeared in the California fields, having a low, 

 compact, spreading habit. The dense, deep green foli- 

 age lying closely to the soil, serves to mulch, shade and 

 protect the strong network of roots lying beneath the 

 surface. This type is known as the Cupid Sweel Pea. 

 That it is apparently due to climatic influence is readily 

 shown by the large number of distinct varieties we 

 now have with this type of growth, many of which 

 originated directly from the tall varieties, and not from 

 sports of the original Cupid. This Cupid Sweet Pea 

 succeeds excellently in hot, dry weather, and exposed 

 dry locations where success with the tall varieties is 

 exceptional. Conversely, the Cupid type does not suc- 



2444. Three varieties of Sweet Pea, about half nitural 

 size, indicating the progress in size of flower. 



The figure on the left shows a variety of the last 

 generation; that on the right an average Hower of to- 

 day. The middle flower is the grandirlora type, re- 

 duced from a flower l x i iu. across. Larger flowers 

 can be secured, but it is a question whether they are 

 desirable. 



ceed in cool, moist locations where the tall sorts do 

 best, as the dense foliage does not dry out readily and 

 is inclined to mildew. 



Two other distinct types have been originated in this 

 country, the Bush Sweet Pea, which stands half-way 

 between the Cupid and tall Sweet Peas in growth, 

 needing no trellis or support but with the foliage held 

 well above the soil and the flower-stems of greater 

 length than in the compact Cupids. This type is also 

 especially adapted to hot weather and dry soils, having 

 a splendidly developed system of fine fibrous roots. 

 The second type is the result of breeding and selection, 

 as exemplified in Burpee Earliest of All, which has 

 the true vine-like or running growth, but grows only 18 

 inches high and comes into full flower greatly in 

 advance of the taller varieties of Sweet Peas without 

 any sacrifice of size in the flower or of length in the 

 stems. With this variety and early planting a great 

 show of flowers may be had even in the southern 

 states. Its early flowering habit makes it the most 

 desirable of all varieties to grow under glass for winter 

 flowering. Heretofore, the enthusiasm for Sweet Peas 

 has been mainly in the cooler northern states, but with 

 fall planting of the tall sorts and the adoption of the 

 Cupid and Bush varieties for summer flowering in the 

 hotter locations, there is no reason why they cannot be 

 grown under more widely varying conditions than any 

 other popular flower. E . D . Darlington. 



SWEET POTATO. Ipomaea Batatas, which see for 

 botanical account. An edible tuberous root, much 

 prized in North America, a staple article of food in all 

 the southern states, and also much consumed in the 

 North. The Sweet Potato plant is a trailing vine of the 

 morning-glory family. The branches root at the joints. 

 The edible tubers, Fig. 2445, are borne close together 

 under the crown and unlike the common potato they 



do not bear definite "eyes." The varieties differ greatly 

 in length of vine and the "vineless" Sweet Potato has 

 a bushy habit. Good commercial varieties that are 

 well cared for rarely bloom, and even then the flow- 

 ers may not produce seed. The plant is tender to 

 frost. The species is widely distributed in tropical 

 regions but is supposed to be of American origin. 

 It has been cultivated from prehistoric times by the 

 aborigines. The plant is exceedingly variable in its 

 leaves (Fig. 2446), and the varieties are sometimes 

 classified on the foliar characters. In the southeast- 

 ern states the word " potato " usually means sweet 

 potato, the potato of the North being known as 

 "Irish," "round " and "white" potato. 



The Sweet Potato crop amounts to fifty million 

 bushels annually. Large quantities are grown in the 

 Carolinas, Georgia, Texas, Alabama, Mississippi, Vir- 

 ginia and New Jersey, the last state being the farthest 

 point north where the crop is raised on a large scale. 

 In California the yield is also large, particularly in the 

 interior valleys and in places removed from the influ- 

 ence of the coast climates. The Sweet Potato is propa- 

 gated by means of its tubers, usually from the slips or 

 cuttings which arise when the tubers are planted in 

 beds or frames. It is also propagated by means of cut- 

 tings or slips taken from the tips of fresh runners. A 

 bushel of ordinary Sweet Potatoes will give from 3,000 

 to 5,000 plants, if the sprouts are taken off twice. An 

 average good yield of Sweet Potatoes is 200-400 bushels 

 per acre. Yields twice as high as these are sometimes- 

 secured. 



In the northern states amateurs occasionally grow 

 Sweet Potatoes of the southern types in a small way on 

 ridges in the garden, but it is usually for the pleasure 

 of the experience rather than for profit. A warm, 

 sunny climate, long season, loose warm soil, liberal 

 supply of moisture in the growing season and a less 

 supply when the tubers are maturing — these are some 

 of the requirements of a good Sweet Potato crop. The 

 crop should be gathered immediately after the first frost. 

 In the South a soft and sugary Sweet Potato is desired. 

 In the North a firm, dry. mealy tuber is the prevalent 

 type. Certain varieties of Sweet Potatoes are called 

 "yams "in the South, but this name belongs historically 

 to a very different kind of plant, for an account of 

 which see Dioscorea. 



There are two special American books on Sweet Pota- 

 toes, by Fitz and Price. For history, see Sturtevant in 

 Amer. Nat., Aug., 1891, pp. 698, 099'. Some of the most 

 important bulletins are Farmers' Bull. 26. U. S. Dept. 

 Agrie. and Ga. 25 by Hugh N. Starnes. Md. 59 and 60 

 deal with the insects and diseases. l H. B. 



Commercial Cultivation of the Sweet Potato. — 

 The cultivation of the Sweet Potato as a staple crop is 

 confined almost exclusively to the southern states. 

 While it is true that the Sweet Potato occupies large 

 areas in New Jersey and is also planted more or less 

 extensively throughout portions of Illinois, Indiana and 

 Ohio, by far the greater bulk of the crop is to be found 

 below the 38th parallel of latitude. Hence the cultural 

 details here given, as well as the memoranda on dis- 

 eases, are compiled from a strictly southern standpoint. 



Methods vary but little. Local environment enters 

 less as a factor into Sweet Potato culture than into any 

 other horticultural industry of the country. For this 

 very reason it is remarkable tLat there should occur 

 such extraordinary variations in type as are everywhere 

 noted, and for which local environment, if anything, 

 should be held responsible. So marked are these varia- 

 tions that without apparent cause any given "variety" 

 so-called — more correctly, perhaps, "selection "—will 

 develop, when transferred a few hundred miles from its 

 place of origin, after a few years of cultivation in the 

 hands of half a dozen different growers, just that 

 many distinct types, each differing materially from the 

 original in its more important characteristics — produc- 

 tiveness, maturity, quality and habit of growth. This 

 difference extends, sometimes, even to a change in the 

 form of the leaf itself from possibly an ovate shape 

 with margin entire and with no more trace of a lobe 

 than an apple leaf has, to a sagittate or halberd form or 

 even to one deeply cleft or indented. See Fig. 2446. 



