Edible Products. 



151 



[February, 1009. 



Shanghai.— The vines of the Shanghai 

 variety are large and vigorous; the 

 potatoes long, cylindrical ; the outside 

 colour almost white. The flesh is 

 creamy white, becoming darker in cook- 

 ing. When baked the flesh is somewhat 

 dry and mealy and the flavour rather 

 poor. This variety yields fairly well 

 and is adapted for use as stock food in 

 Gulf Coast States. 

 Cost of Production and Returns. 

 The cost of growing an acre of sweet 

 potatoes will vary with the cropping 

 plan and the extent to which the crop is 

 grown. On an average the cost of 

 growing an acre of sweet potatoes in the 

 regular commercial district is about as 

 follows :— Rental of land, $8 ; ploughing 

 and fittiug, $5 ; fertilizers, $20 ; 10,000 

 plants, -510 ; planting, $5 ; cultivating, $5 ; 

 digging and marketing, $25 ; total, $78. 

 An average yield of sweet potatoes is at 

 the rate of one barrel to 100 hills or 100 

 barrels to an acre. The price per barrel 

 paid the grower is seldom less than $P25, 

 and $2"50 or S3 is not uncommon. During 

 good seasons the net profit from one 

 acre of sweet potatoes is about §75. 

 While occasionally the net returns are 

 from §100 to $150 an acre for a single 

 season, there are seasons of crop failure 

 or overproduction when very little, if 

 any, profit is realized. 



The sweet-potato growers on the 

 eastern shore of Virginia as a rule plant 

 about 10 acres in sweet potatoes, aud this 

 constitutes their money crop. The 

 remainder of the cleared portion of their 

 small farms is devoted to corn, pasture, 

 and hay, all for home use. Here the 

 sweet potato crop is grown almost 

 entirely without the aid of hired help, 

 and the cost of production does not 

 exceed $10 an acre. Where the crop is 

 stored the gross returns are greater, but 

 the cost of production is increased pro- 

 portionately. 



Uses of Sweei 1 Potatoes. 

 The uses of the sweet potato as 

 a table vegetable are too important 

 and too well-known to require more 

 than brief mention in a publication of 

 this character. In preparing them for 

 the table they are baked, boiled, fried, 

 or braised, while for pies they are used 

 in the same manner as pumpkins. 



A number of attempts have been 

 made to build up an industry for the 

 production and sale of desiccated sweet 

 potatoes and sweet potato flour. There 

 is doubtless a great field for this class 

 of goods, especially for export and for 

 ship supplies. 



Uses for Stock Food. 

 The vines of the sweet potato when 

 properly cured make a medium grade 



of hay for feeding to cattle and sheep. 

 In the green state the vines are eaten 

 by sheep, cattle and hogs, but their feed- 

 ing value is comparatively small. The 

 potatoes are fairly well adapted to feed- 

 ing to range cattle, sheep, and hogs, 

 although their nutritive value is quite 

 low, and they require the addition of 

 cotton-seed meal or grain to make a 

 balanced ration. On farms where sweet 

 potatoes are grown extensively the 

 culls are fed to hogs, together with a 

 one- third or one-half ration of corn. 



By employing one of the heavy- 

 yielding varieties of sweet potatoes, 

 such as the Southern Queen or the Ber- 

 muda Red, and drying and pulverizing 

 them, a splendid stock food may be 

 produced, especially when sufficient 

 grain is added to form a balanced ration. 



The principal uses of sweet potatoes 

 are, however, for the table, and the de- 

 mand for this purpose is rapidly in- 

 creasing. 



From the fact that by the aid of 

 commercial fertilizer alone sweet pota- 

 toes can be grown on comparatively 

 poor land and largely by the use of 

 labour-saving machinery, this crop may 

 in a great measure solve the problem 

 of how to occupy the "worn-out" cot- 

 ton and tobacco lands of the South, 

 especially if employed in a rotation 

 including corn, peanuts and grass. By 

 the perfection of some means by which 

 sweet potatoes could be dried and con- 

 verted into a condensed stock food on 

 the farm, they in conjunction with corn, 

 peanuts, and a little hay would serve 

 to keep the stock on southern farms in 

 good condition during the winter. 



When removed from the ground the 

 sweet potato contains about 71 per 

 cent, of water, To per cent, of protein, 25 

 per cent, of nitrogen-free extract, and 

 - 35 per cent- of fat. It will be noted 

 that both the protein and fat content 

 of the sweet potato are compara- 

 tively low. The analysis of peanuts 

 shows that the protein and fat are both 

 quite high, and by combining them 

 with sweet potatoes at the rate of* one 

 bushel of peanuts, ground in the shells, 

 to three bushels of sweet potatoes are 

 nearly equal to one bushel of corn in 

 feeding value, but in order to make 

 them satisfactory as a stock food it 

 is necessary to add peanuts, cotton- 

 seed meal, or grain. 



Use for Production of Alcohol. 



The starch and sugar content of sweet 

 potatoes varies considerably in differ- 

 ent varieties, but as a rule they con- 

 tain about 16 per cent, of starch and 4 

 per cent, of sugar, making a total of 20 



