Sweet Potatoes as Staple Food 155 



potatoes may also be used, as are the fresh roots, for 

 puddings, custards and pies. 



The sweet potato prepared in some form is as 

 commonly found on southern tables as bread, for which 

 it is an excellent substitute. They may be prepared in 

 such a variety of ways that one does not tire of them. 

 Whether we consider it from the standpoint of food for 

 man or for animals, it is by far the most profitable root 

 crop for the South. On the coast of South Carolina it is 

 fed to horses, mules and cows from early fall to late 

 spring. Sandy uplands which will produce only twenty 

 bushels of corn will easily grow two hundred of 

 potatoes, three bushels of which are equivalent to one of 

 corn in feeding value. Pork fattened on potatoes is just 

 as good as that fattened on corn. The vines, fed green 

 or cured, materially increase the flow of milk from cows 

 fed upon them. 



PUMPKIN 



While this is more commonly grown in the field than 

 in the garden, it is a desirable crop for the garden if 

 one has no field in which to grow it. It will produce 

 well on any class of soil, provided it is fertile. The 

 objection to planting it in the garden is the risk of 

 crossing with other species of the cucurbita family. 

 Enough for a winter's family supply maj" be grown in 

 vacant spots about the lot. Under ordinary conditions, 

 poultry will not disturb it. While young and tender it 

 ma}^ be used as a substitute for the summer squash and 

 is not easily distinguished from the latter, over which it 

 has the advantage of growing better in early fall; and, 



