SWEET POTATOES 



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SWEET POTATOES 



Botany. It is an unfortunate circumstance that two such dif- 

 ferent plants as the Irish potato (Solanum tuberostim), of the 

 Nightshade family, and the sweet potato (Ipomcea batatas), which 

 belongs to the Morning-Glory family, should both be named 

 potato, but such are the conditions which confront and confuse us 

 in the English language. 



The origin of the sweet 

 potato is more obscure than 

 that of many other garden 

 vegetables which have been 

 cultivated longer. De Can- 

 dolle gives two probable 

 places of origin for it 

 America and Asia, with 

 the balance of evidence 

 in favor of America. We 

 shall not attempt to settle 

 this controversy, but leave 

 it an open question for 

 future investigation. 



The sweet-potato plant 

 is like the morning-glory 

 in many respects, but has FlG I$9 Sweet . potato foliage and flowers 

 in addition the power to 



produce a large number of thick roots, a characteristic not com- 

 mon to all the members of the Morning-Glory family. The sweet 

 potato is very widely distributed throughout the latitudes where it 

 thrives without special attention. Under favorable climatic con- 

 ditions it is able to perpetuate itself from year to year without 

 special cultivation. This, in addition to the fact that it is a valu- 

 able food plant for both man and beast, makes it an important 

 commercial and culinary vegetable. 



Uses. The root of the sweet potato is a valuable article of food, 

 for, although composed chiefly of starch, it contains more of the 

 muscle-forming elements than does the Irish potato. It is used in 

 a fresh state for boiling and baking, and is dried and converted into 



