92 CULTIVATED VEGETABLES. 



climate, where, on being planted, they all 

 degenerated into one, the original variety ! 



Our common potatoes soon degenerate, 

 when planted in the West India islands : they 

 grow waxy, and acquire a more saccharine 

 taste than those of Europe or America. They 

 are not therefore much cultivated, although, 

 in favourable situations, very good potatoes 

 have been produced from English plants. 



SWEET POTATOE. -CONVOLVULUS. 



Natural order, Campanacea. Class, Pent- 

 andria JSIonogynia. Battata, Potato. 



Lunan gives us the following account of 

 the sweet potatoe, in his Hortus Jamaicensis : 



The sweet potatoe is raised from slips, and 

 is cultivated by laying a few short junks of 

 the stem, or the larger branches, in shallow 

 trenches, with inter-spaces, and covering 

 them with mould from the banks. The roots 

 come to maturity in three or four months, 

 and the propagation is continued by covering 

 the stems, bits, and small protuberances with 

 mould, as they dig up the more perfect roots 

 for use. The leaves are good fodder for 

 horses, sheep, goats, or rabbits. There are 



