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NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



July 



It has also been demonstrated, that in every 

 plant produced on the earth's surface, a certain 

 amount of inorganic matter is detectable ; such, for 

 instance, as silica, Hme, potash, soda, magnesia, &c., 

 and that in every system of manuring and cultiva- 

 tion, substances containing these elementary mat- 

 ters must be supplied to the soil in order to coun- 

 teract the weakening effects of vegetation by re- 

 turning to it the energizing principles requisite to 

 the sustenance and perfection of the crops it is re- 

 quired to produce. 



Were a soil to be cropped for a series of three 

 or more years without the application of manure, 

 it would become exhausted, cease to produce, and 

 be ultimately rendered utterly stei'ile and waste. — 

 By comprehending the nature of soils and plants, 

 these men have been enabled to prepare rules for 

 regulating the operations of the farmer, in cases 

 where, before, he was likely to rely wholly upon 

 hearsay knowledge for direction. 



For the New England Fanner. 



SWEET POTATOES. 



Sweet potato is a name we now hear everywhere. 

 Carolina was the epithet generally employed among 

 us, twenty years ago, to designate the wholesome 

 root. It was then considered more of a luxury, 

 and was scarcely seen beyond the tables of the 

 rich. As its use has become more common, and 

 its cultivation extended into higher latitudes, it has 

 taken the name, that, without consulting dictiona- 

 ries, the generality of people would naturally give 

 it. I recollect the time, when the ruralist could 

 scarcely ever procure this potato without sending 

 expressly for it to the markets of the city. In vain 

 would one inquire for it at the \illage store. It 

 was rarely kept there. 



The sweet potato, (convolvulus batatas,) is in- 

 digenous to warm climates. Like many other 

 tropical things, I believe it is better flavored, raised 

 within the precincts of its true home. I say this, 

 not merely from conjecture, but after haAing tested 

 the difference, by eating some at tables of husband- 

 men dwelling on the banks of the Tombigbee, and 

 in my own native State. 



It was imported into England from the Indies 

 by the way of Spain, before the Irish potato was 

 known there, and was in those days supposed to 

 possess the qualities of restoring decayed vigor to 

 the human frame ; and consequently more frequent- 

 ly found in the shop of the confectioner than in 

 the larder of the cook. The kissing comfits of 

 Falstaff, and such like confections, were principally 

 made of batatas and eringo roots. It seems at its 

 first introduction into England, to have held forth 

 no inducement to the cultivator. In the days of 

 Evylin, it was, as an edible, in such bad repute, that 

 he, in his work on gardening, as early as the year 

 1699, recommends that these potatoes should be 

 planted in the worst ground. It grows in Spain 

 and the Canary Islands, and one variety has been 

 cultivated with success in the neighborhood of 

 Paris. Time has shown that England's climate, at 

 least, has proved uncongenial to improvements of 

 any consequence respecting its out-door culture. 

 The mists and rams about London are proverbial 



Such extreme humidity is very unfavorable to the 

 growth of this root. 



In our own country, it used to be cultivated al- 

 most altogether in the southern States. It has 

 been gradually advancing northward, till it is now 

 raised of excellent quality, in the vicinity of Phil- 

 adelphia. It is the opinion of some, that, by accli- 

 mation, it may become a profitable crop in certain 

 districts of this State. While on a visit one au- 

 tumn, at a farmer's in Groton, I ate some quite 

 good ones, just dug from ground bordering the 

 southern side of a fence. It is said they are culti- 

 vated in Plymouth county, quite equal in quality to 

 those which come to us from New Jersey and Vir- 

 ginia. An article in the Ploughman, about two 

 years ago, says : "The soil in Massachusetts is not 

 generally adapted to the growth of this plant. But 

 there are strips of interval, and here and there 

 patches of warm, sandy land, which well-manured, 

 would yield an abundant crop, much larger than is 

 ever realized from the common potato. Its eating 

 quality, raised on sueh land, is averred, by those 

 who have tried the experiment in this State, to be 

 equal to the best Jerseys." An editor of a certain 

 agricultural paper says, referring to the cultivation of 

 this nutritious root for fodder, "The late Mr. Low- 

 ell, of Roxbury, succeeded in raising them, and if 

 we rightly recollect, he thought he could raise 

 about as many on an acre, and as certainly as he 

 could raise the Irish potato. If this can be done, 

 their fattening power will be found much superior 

 to that of the common potato," For several years 

 past, I have been making trials in respect to culti- 

 vating them upon my own grounds. As to quali- 

 ty, I have never succeeded to satisfaction. In size 

 I had one season about two bushels of them sur- 

 passing any Jersey ones seen at Faneuil Hall Mar- 

 ket, or in the provision stores. Were my soil as 

 warm, light and sandy as in some towns of the 

 State, I believe, in suitable seasons, I could have 

 them sufficiently good in quality for all culinary 

 purposes. 



Sweet potatoes are excellent for fodder. Dur- 

 ing my sojourn in ISIississippi, I found them much 

 used there for this purpose. Cattle and horses nev- 

 er refuse them. An abundance of them, rejected 

 as to table use, was given to my stock last winter. 

 The horses, especially, preferred them to anything 

 else. 



When dried in a brick oven, it is said they fur- 

 nish the material for making a delightful and whole- 

 some beverage in the shape of potato beer. 



Southerners used to tell us there were twenty- 

 four ways for cooking the sweet potato. It may be 

 baked, boiled, fried, made into custards, puddings, 

 pies, cakes, &c. I have eaten loaf-bread, having in- 

 termixed with the flower or meal a certain quantity 

 of potato. Sometimes I have seen it made into a 

 biscuit for breakfast, or a sort of hoe-cake for tea. 

 It has been the chief ingredient of some of the best 

 puddings I ever tasted. Pies may be made much 

 in the same manner as squash or rhubarb. Some- 

 times the tender green shoots are boiled and eaten. 



"The vine and leaf," says one, "somewhat resem- 

 ble a bean trailing over the ground. Perhaps it 

 still more resembles wild buckwheat, though its 

 leaf is larger, and a yellower green." Another 

 says : — "In its general appearance, when growing, 

 the plant resembles the convolvulus purpurea, com- 

 mon morning glory, though of course not a climber, 

 like the latter." 



