The leaves are used for flavoring purposes.
SWEET CORN.
Plant sweet corn as soon as the soil is warm in the spring, and make successive plantings every two weeks until July, or the same result can be attained to some extent by a careful selection of early, medium, and late varieties. Plant the seeds in drills 3 feet apart and thin to a single stalk every 10 to 14 inches, or plant 5 to 6 seeds in hills 3 feet apart each way, and thin out to 3 to 5 stalks in a hill. Cover the seeds about 2 inches deep. Cultivate frequently and keep down all weeds, removing suckers from around the base of the stalk.
Sweet corn should be planted on rich land, and the method of cultivation is practically the same as for field corn, but should be more thorough. There are a number of good early varieties, and for a midsummer and late sort there is none better than Stowell's Ever-green.—(F. B. 255; N. J. E. S. 199; S. Dak. E. S. 91.)
SWEET MARJORAM.
Leaves and ends of shoots used for seasoning.
SWEET POTATO.
Owing to the tropical nature of the sweet potato it naturally thrives best in the South Atlantic and Gulf Coast States, but it may be grown for home use as far north as southern New York and westward along that latitude to the Rocky Mountains. The climatic requirements for the production of sweet potatoes on a commercial scale are (1) a growing period of at least four and half months without frost, (2) warm nights and abundant sunshine during the day, and (3) a moderate rainfall during the growing period. Where irrigation is depended upon for the supply of moisture, the greatest quantity of water should be applied between the time the plants are set in the field and the time when the vines practically cover the ground. If too much water is applied during the latter part of the season the result may be an abundant growth of vine and a small yield of stringy potatoes. For some time before harvesting the crop the water should be withheld altogether, in order that the roots may ripen properly.
Soil.—Sweet potatoes thrive on a moderately fertile sandy loam which does not contain an excess of organic matter. They are frequently grown upon almost pure sand, especially where the subsoil is a yellow clay. Soils containing considerable calcium or underlain with limestone are well adapted to the growing of the crop. The sweet potato is exceptional in that a fairly good crop can be grown upon soils that are too poor for the production of the majority of farm crops. Sweet potatoes yield a fair crop on the "worn-out" tobacco and cotton lands of the South, especially when used in a rotation including some leguminous crop for increasing the humus in the soil. Like many other crops, the sweet potato thrives on newly cleared land, but the crop should not be planted continuously in the same place. With the sweet potato, as with other crops, rotation is the keynote of success.
Good drainage is essential, the original idea of planting upon high ridges being for the purpose of securing better drainage. The surface soil should extend to a depth of 6 or 8 inches, and the subsoil should be of such a nature that it will carry off excessive moisture without leaching away the fertilizers applied to the land. Too great a depth of loose surface soil or an alluvial soil having no subsoil will produce long, irregular potatoes that are undesirable for marketing. Planting upon land having a loose, sandy surface soil underlain by a well-drained clay subsoil will tend to produce the type of rather thick, spindle-formed potato that commands the highest price. The depth of plowing is a prominent factor in the preparation of land for sweet potatoes, and on soils of too great depth before the subsoil is reached very shallow plowing should be practiced, leaving the soil firm beneath, against which the roots must force their way. If the surface soil is of insufficient depth, it should be gradually increased by plowing a little deeper each year or by subsoiling in the furrow behind the regular turning plow.