CHAPTER XXXII 

 SWEET POTATOES 



THE sweet potato belongs to the Morning-Glory family. It is of 

 tropical origin, probably coming from the West Indies or South 

 America. The plant is a perennial and seldom blossoms or produces 

 seed in the United States. The blossom is very much like that of a 

 large morning-glory and is of a purple color (Fig. 115). In the 

 North sweet potatoes are treated as an annual, and not as a perennial. 



The Roots. The sweet potato differs from the Irish potato in 



I 



FIG. 114. A single sweet potato from the hot-bed, showing many young sprouts, 

 the difference in the size of young plants. (^Experiment Station, .New Jersey.) 



Note 



being a true root. The Irish potato is an enlarged underground 

 stem, its various parts being analogous to the stems above ground. 

 The sweet potato, however, is an enlarged root. 



Origin and History. Very little is known about the early his- 

 tory of the sweet potato, except that it was in general cultivation by 

 the natives of South America when first visited by white men. The 

 wild form has never been discovered. The sweet potato has at- 

 tained considerable culture in foreign countries, especially in China 

 and islands in the Pacific Ocean. Its culture has had a slow de- 

 velopment in the southern States, but within the last two decades the 

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