8 SWEET POTATO CULTURE. 



where the season is longer, flowers and ripened seeds are 

 not rare. The plant, as it runs along the ground, strikes 

 root at every joint, or node ; this peculiarity, while ad- 

 vantageous in the far South, where the season is long 

 enough for such roots to grow to a useful size, are a dis- 

 advantage to the Northern cultivator, who lives where 

 the season is barely long enough for the principal roots to 

 mature. 



VARIETIES OF THE SWEET POTATO. 



As with other esculent vegetables, there are many 

 varieties of the Sweet Potato ; these possess widely differ- 

 ent qualities, which adapt them to the various soils and 

 climates of the several sections of the country. Which 

 particular variety will be best suited to a given locality, 

 can only be ascertained by experimental culture. 



The Hanover Sweet Potato, or Nansemond Im- 

 proved. — The superiority of the Hanover variety may 

 be in part attributed to the congenial soil and climate of 

 the lower section of Virginia. The area more especially 

 adapted to the perfection of the Sweet Potato, Hanover 

 County, is limited, yet sufficiently extensive to supply 

 the Richmond market, and a large surplus for shipping. 

 The soil is a grayish, sandy loam, and has a clay sub- 

 soil, varying from a foot to many feet m depth. The 

 fine and almost impalpable sand, which covers most of its 

 surface, was deposited by the waters of the ocean ; this, 

 together with other sources of fertility, make up the 

 finely pulverized soil of Hanover, a locality tliat supplies 

 the markets of Richmond and other cities with various 

 vegetable productions. What are the elementary consti- 

 tuents of this soil is not known, and we have no reliable 

 analysis. " Nature seems to have made this locality 

 especially for a garden ; here the Sweet Potato and the 

 Melon find their own home." In regard to the Sweet 



