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J. STECKLER SEED CO., LTD., ALMANAC AND 



Breeze's Peerless or Boston. 



Breeze's Peerless or Boston. Several 

 years ago this variety was introduced, 

 yet at present it is the leading kind for 

 market as well as for family use. Skin 

 dull white, sometimes slightly russeted; 

 eyes few and shallow, round, occasionally 

 oblong; grows to a large size; very pro- 

 ductive, and earlier than the Jackson 

 White. It is a general favorite in this 

 section. 



Jackson White. An old variety known 

 to Louisiana for many years. It produces 

 large tubers of excellent quality; long in 



shape and similar in appearance to the 

 White Elephant, but a little larger; 

 sound white flesh and good keeper, also 

 a good yielder. We strongly recommend 

 this for family use and market purposes. 

 White Star. A very handsome and pro- 

 ductive variety of medium earliness; 

 tubers oblong, large and uniform in size; 

 vines strong, of a dark green color, 

 stocky and vigorous; skin and flesh white 

 and of fine quality; an excellent table 

 variety, and keeps well. 



THE SWEET POTATO. 



Convolvulus Batatas. 



The Yam. 

 Southern Queen. 



Shanghai or California Yam. 



CULTURE. — The Sweet Potato is, next to corn, the most important food 

 crop in the South. They are a wholesome and nutritious diet, good for man and 

 beast. Though cultivated to a limited extent on the sandy lands of New Jersey 

 and some of the Middle States, it thrives best on the light rich lands of the 

 South, which bi'ing their red and golden fruits to greatest perfection under the 

 benign rays of a Southern sun. It is a plant of a warm climate, a child of the sun, 

 much more nutritious than the Irish Potato on account of the great amount of 

 saccharine matter it contains, and no Southern table should be found without it 

 from the first day of August till the last day of May. Some plant early in spring 

 the Potato itself in the prepared ridges, and cut the vines from the potato when 

 large enough, and plant them out; others start the potatoes in a bed prepared 

 expressly for that purpose, and slip off the sprouts as they come up and set these 

 out. The latter method will produce the earliest potatoes; others who set the 

 vines say that they make the largest tubers. In preparing the land the soil should 

 be thoroughly pulverized, the ridges laid off about five feet apart, well drawn up 

 and rather flat on top. If everything is ready, and time for planting has arrived, 

 do not wait for a rain, make a paste of clay and cow manure; in this dip the roots 

 of the slips and press the earth firmly around them. Old slips are more tenacious 

 of life than young ones, and will under favorable circumstances answer best. 

 Watering afterward , if dry weather continues, of course will be beneficial. Other- 

 wise plant your vines and slips just before or after a rain. Two feet apart in 



Seed Drills, all the Best Kinds. 



