346 FIELD AND GARDEN PRODUCTS 



etc., but the name stachys seems to have been adopted as the com- 

 mon one in this country. The plant is a small perennial belonging 

 to the mint family and produces just below the ground a multitude 

 of small, white, crisp edible tubers, varying from an inch to two 

 and one-half inches in length, and about one-half an inch in thick- 

 ness and marked by irregular spiral rings, which give them a cork- 

 screw-like appearance. 



Stachys has been tested at the New York (Cornell) and a num- 

 ber of the other agricultural experiment stations, and proved so 

 easy of cultivation and pleasant in taste (the flavor resembling arti- 

 chokes) that the vegetable has made many friends and is now pro- 

 curable at the markets in most of our larger cities. The agreeable 

 quality is in considerable measure due to the crispness of the tubers, 

 and as this disappears when they are exposed to the air they should 

 be stored in sand or sawdust. They are ready for use when the 

 plant dies down in the autumn, though they may be easily carried 

 over the winter and are prepared for the table like potatoes or other 

 vegetables, or may be eaten raw like radishes. (F. B. 295.) 



SWEET BASIL. 



The leaves are used for flavoring purposes. 



SWEET CORN. 



Plant sweet corn as soon as the soil is warm in the spring, and 

 make successive plantings every two weeks until July, or the same 

 result can be attained to some extent by a careful selection of early, 

 medium, and late varieties. Plant the seeds in drills 3 feet apart 

 and thin to a single stalk every 10 to 14 inches, or plant 5 to 6 seeds 

 in hills 3 feet apart each way, and thin out to 3 to 5 stalks 

 in a hill. Cover the seeds about 2 inches deep. Cultivate frequently 

 and keep down all weeds, removing suckers from around the base of 

 the stalk. 



Sweet corn should be planted on rich land, and the method of 

 cultivation is practically the same as for field corn, but should be 

 more thorough. There are a number of good early varieties, and for 

 a midsummer and late sort there is none better than Stowell's Ever- 

 green. (F. B. 255; N. J. E. S. 199; S. Dak. E. S. 91.) 



SWEET MARJORAM. 



Leaves and ends of shoots used for seasoning. 



SWEET POTATO. 



Owing to the tropical nature of the sweet potato it naturally 

 thrives best in the South Atlantic and Gulf Coast States, but it may 

 be grown for home use as far north as southern New York and west- 

 ward along that latitude to the Rocky Mountains. The climatic 

 requirements for the production of sweet potatoes on a commercial 

 scale are (1) a growing period of at least four and half months 

 without frost, (2) warm nights and abundant sunshine during the 

 day, and (3) a moderate rainfall during the growing period. Where 

 irrigation is depended upon for the supply of moisture, the greatest 

 quantity of water should be applied between the time the plants are 

 set in the field and the time when the vines practically cover the 

 ground. If too much water is applied during the latter part of the 



