426 



SOUTHERN FIELD CROPS 



In the cotton-growing states the sweet-potato may be re- 

 garded as a field crop, while north of this region it is treated as 

 a 'garden crop. Conversely, the Irish potato is a field crop in 

 the North and a garden crop in the South. 



There is corresponding confusion in the use of the word 

 " potato." This term, when used without modifiers, usually 



FIG. 188. A FIELD OF SWEET-POTATOES IN ALABAMA. 



means, in the Southern States, sweet-potatoes ; while elsewhere 

 it signifies the Irish, round, or white potato. 



The season that makes the maximum yield and best quality 

 of sweet-potatoes is one in which frequent rains occur during 

 the late spring and the greater part of the summer, but in which 

 there is comparatively dry weather in September and October. 

 Heavy rains near the time of harvest, especially if they follow 

 a long period of drought, are apt to induce a new growth, which 

 results in harm to the quality and keeping properties of the crop. 



