The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1894-02-20
FOR H FARMERS.
The Introduction ofthc Bunch Yam
Sweet Potato.

Ihe prime BunCh Yam
Sweet Potato.
In the year of 1865, just after the
close OF the late war, my father, II.
ID. Pedelford, found in q patch of the
old.iashioned long vine, yellow yam,
a hill OF potatoes that attracted his
attention SO much that he watched it's
growth all the way through its grow
ing season. The next year he planted
the potatoes that this hill produced
along side by side with its parent (the
long vine YAM. He gave both rows
the same kind of cultivation all the
way through in order to make u
thorough and impartial test, and to
his great delight found tho new potato
to out-yield its parent by one-fourth
on the two short rows. This test
brought out its good and superior
qualities over the then standard variety
the long vine yellow yam.
This new potato had extremely short
stumpy vines, its aeaves are set close
together making it very heavy set,
which produced Il dense shade around
tho hill, its fruit grew in IL cluster
close around the stem the potatoes
proved to be Of large zize and very
sweet and an amber yellow in color.
very productive and extremely early,
~ ppi " VI lpS ~ III ohlJ viz
particular and that is its color. My
father then decided to name his new
potato the bunch yam, owing to its
general appearance and habits to
further prolong his test he sem out
some of the bunch yam potatoes to
several of his friends throughout the
county, all OF whom adopted them to
the rejection of all others. The bunch
yam can be cultivated and dug with
perfect ease.
Will the sweet potato mix by two or
more kinds being planted together, is
a question SO often heard. | can say
that my experience with them is that
they will not mix, as all plants and
vegetation mix only through the
medium OF the bloom by pcllenization
The wind and various kinds of insects
are great agents in mixing the pollcr
blooms. | have often seen swcet
potatoes bloom, but | have never seer
them mature their seed or seed food
i'll order to obtain different or new
varieties. But tho sweet potato, II,
does various other kinds Of plants thai
do not mature their seed food, ire,
quently sport off from parent and form,
new kinds in this way, us did the buncl
yam. sport off from the old long vim,
yam and formed q new and different
variety.
The word sport is a phrase used BY
gardeners and botanists, meaning I;
%springiDg off, the cause Of which
can not explain. | saw the ~vinoless
yam advertised last season and pro
cured some of them. [ planted them
side by side with the bunch yam
cultivated both alike all the way
through, and us | thought they woulC
do, proved to be the same as the buncl
yam, the difference being only in tho
name.
The farmers of the South ought tt
pay more attention to their potato
patches and not neglect them whcr
the grass begins to grow to give theil
time and labor on some other crop
we should plant II big sweet potato
crop and keep them well worked up
as no other crop will bring us in more
bushels to the acre. If our Northern
friends could keep them through their
extremely cold weather, they wOulC
raise them by the millions, which
would take the place Of their various
kinds of root crops.
We can raise such nice pork anC
milk and butter by feeding on the
sweet potato as they need no cooking
to pursuade them to eat them. They
will also furnish the table with !;
delicious dish twelve months out of the
year. My advice is to grow sweet
potatoes and a plenty Of them.
A. S. PADELFORD.
Edwards, Miss.