GARDEN MANUAL FOR THE SOUTHERN STATES. 85 
SWEET POTATOES. 
For Price List see Yellow Pages in Back of Book. 
Convolvulus Batatas. 
CULTURE.—The Sweet Potato is, next to corn, the most important food 
crop in the South. They are a wholesome and nutritious dief, 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 bring 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 elay 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 
rows is considered a good distance. The ridges should never be disturbed by a 
plow from the time they are made until the potatoes are ready to be dug. Scrape 
off the grass and young weeds with the hoe, and pull up the large ones by hand. 
Crab grass is peculiarly inimical to the sweet potato, and should be carefully kept 
eut of the patch. The vines should never be allowed to take root between the 
rows. Sweet Potatoes should be dug before a heavy frost oceurs; a very light 
one will do no harm. The earth should be dry enough to keep it from sticking to 
the potatoes. The old fashioned potato bank is the best arrangement for keeping 
them, the main points being a dry Bice and ventilation. Varieties generally 
cultivated in the South: 
The Yam. 
The Yam. Taking into consideration , Shanghai or California Yam. This is 
quality and productiveness, the Yam | the earliest variety we have, frequently, 
stands at the head of the list. Frequently 'under favorable circumstances, giving 
wee baked the saccharine matter in the | so0q sized tubers two months after plant- 
shape of candy will be seen hanging to ing the vine. Very productive, having 
them in strings. Skin and flesh yel- | ©. 
low and very oe Without doubt are given 300 bushels per acre when planted 
early and on rich land. Is almost the 
best potato for family use. 
Southern Queen. Very similar to the Only kind cultivated for the New Orleans 
former but smoother, the tubers having market. Skin dull white or yellow, flesh 
no veins, or very few; it is earlier, oval | white, dry and mealy, in large specimens 
in shape. frequently stringy. 
Our Motto: Not How Cheap, but How Good. 
