140 Southern Gardener^ s Practical Manual 



milk* and salt; they may be sliced raw and fried on a 

 quick pan; they may be boiled the day before and sliced 

 and fried for breakfast; they may be mashed and made 

 into cakes and fried, or they may be sliced and made 

 into a salad, or mashed and made into salad. They may 

 be taken hot from the vessel in which they were boiled, 

 mashed thoroughly, seasoned with butter and cream, 

 and stewed until the seasoning is cooked into them as 

 "creamed" potatoes, or they may be mashed, seasoned 

 and baked until the surface is browned, or they may be 

 sliced and boiled in hot lard and made into "Saratoga 

 chips." The ripe potato is excellent baked in "its own 

 jacket" and served hot. It is like the negro's rabbit — 

 "good anyway" it is cooked. 



THE SWEET POTATO 



Climatic conditions favorable to this plant are just 

 the reverse of those of the Irish potato. This requires 

 a summer temperature of four to five months. Its cul- 

 tivation is confined almost entirely to the states from 

 New Jersey south. While some are grown in Ohio and 

 Illinois, the production is small compared with the 

 southern states. A rich, sandy loam is the ideal soil for 

 sweet potatoes, but excessive fertility is not desired. A 

 soil over -fertile produces vine at the expense of the 

 enlarged roots, for which especially the crop is grown. 

 The Irish potato is a tuber, while the sweet potato is a 

 :uberous root or the enlargement of a true root, which 

 extends on beyond the potato and performs the functions 

 of a true root. The Irish potato is grown on a stem 



