42G 



SOUTHERN FIKLD CROPS 



In the cotton-growing states the sweet-potato niaj' ))e re- 

 garded as a field crop, while north of this region it is treated as 

 a garden crop. Conversely, the Irish potato is a field crop in 

 the North and a garden crop in the South. 



There is corresponding confusion in the use of the word 

 " potato." This term, when used without modifiers, usually 







nil^^M^ 



■-■■■■'■^ "■" ^ ' ■"•■Jii"* **^"^ .i.-/V-*< S^>■«<^'•■ i* 



Fig. ISS. — A Field of Sweet-pot.vtoes in Aubama. 



means, in the Southern States, sweet-potatoes ; while elsewhere 

 it signifies the Irish, round, or white potato. 



The season that makes tlic maximum yield and liest ijuality 

 of sweet-potatoes is one in which frequent rains occur during 

 the late spring and the greater jiarl of the summer, but in which 

 there is comparatively dry weather in September and October. 

 Heavy rains near the time of harvest, especially- if the>- follow 

 a long i^eriod of drought, are apt to induce a new growth, which 

 results in harm to the quality and keeping properties of the crop. 



