POTATOES AND OTHER STARCHY ROOTS AS FOOD. 21 



sold to some extent. 1 Sweet potatoes cut into small cubes and roasted 

 or parched until brown are used like parched corn as a homemade 

 substitute for coffee. 



Within recent years the practice of canning sweet potatoes has been 

 developed with so much success that it is now an important indus- 

 try. Medium-sized roots are preferred for canning and are usually 

 put up in 3-pound tins. They are used like other canned vegetables 

 when it is not convenient to depend upon a fresh supply. Canned 

 sweet potatoes have been used in the Army ration in the Philippines 

 and are said to be in demand for lumber and mining camps. 



Very rarely a flour is made from sweet potatoes. Like that from 

 white potatoes, it is prepared by slicing, drying, and grinding the 

 root. 



DIGESTIBILITY AND PLACE IN THE DIET. 



Not many special experiments have been made to test the degesti- 

 bility of sweet potatoes, but what little work has been done indi- 

 cates a degree of digestibility equal to that of white potatoes. The 

 protein may be sligthly less digestible, but the difference is too slight 

 to be of practical importance. 



It is a matter of common experience that sweet potatoes are whole- 

 some, and they are ordinarily digested without distress. Many per- 

 sons find the starchy varieties so dry that they do not relish them 

 without large quantities of butter. This makes a rather rich mix- 

 ture and is perhaps accountable for the digestive disturbances oc- 

 casionally experienced. 



Considering both composition and digestibility, it may be said that 

 the nutritive value of sweet potatoes is much the same as that of 

 white potatoes and that they are well fitted to occupy the same 

 place in the diet and furnish a palatable substitute for white pota- 

 toes. Their characteristic and pleasing flavor has the advantage 

 of giving variety to the diet. In the North they frequently cost 

 somewhat more than white potatoes, but are still among the cheaper 

 vegetables. In the South they are usually cheaper than white pota- 

 toes and merit their extensive use. 



THE JERUSALEM ARTICHOKE. 



The Jerusalem artichoke (Jerusalem being a corruption of girasole, 

 the Italian name for sunflower) is a tuber-bearing member of the 

 sunflower family and is entirely distinct from the French or true 

 artichoke, sometimes called globe artichoke. Like the sunflower, the 

 Jerusalem artichoke is of American origin and was an important 



1 South Carolina Sta. Bui. 71 (1903), p. 6 ; U. S. Dept. Agr. Farmers' Bui. 169 (1903), 

 p. 25. 



