200 



tire plant with its fruit attached and hanging up to 

 dry. The peppers are also dried and handled in 

 bulk. 



At the present time the more pungent sorts find 

 a wide use in the manufacture of stock foods and 

 to some extent in medicines. 



No serious insect and disease pests are present. 



The common hot varieties are the Tabasco, Red 

 Cayenne, Red Chili, Creole and Hot Bell. Of the 

 mild-fruited varieties the most widely cultivated are 

 Bull Nose, Chinese Giant, Ruby King and Neapoli- 

 tan. The latter is especially adapted to extreme 

 northern sections on account of the short season re- 

 quired for its development. 



POTATO 



The potato is by far the most important of the 

 vegetable crops from an economic standpoint. It 

 is a native of America, but has been widely dis- 

 tributed over the entire world, where it has readily 

 adapted itself to varied conditions of climate and 

 soil until it has become the second most important 

 food plant in the world from the standpoint of 

 human consumption, being preceded only by rice. 

 Even wheat is less extensively consumed as a 

 food than the potato. Aside from its importance 

 as a food, large quantities of this crop are devoted 

 to the manufacture of starch and alcohol as well 

 as to the feeding of stock. Numerous varieties have 

 been developed, some of which have become per- 

 manently fitted to special climatic and soil condi- 

 tions. Repeated efforts have been made to intro- 

 duce popular varieties of European countries into 

 America, but with universal failure. The popular 

 varieties of the United States have likewise proved 



