Perth Amboy evening news., 1922-01-30
ABOUT TEMPERAMENTAL
SWEET
Daily Letter by Frederic j. Haskin

, much larger place on the American
bill Of fare than it has. even II you
prefer the dry nothern potato Tor
! baking, the southern potato Is better
for pie and it alone a be success
fully candied. Furthermore, the
southern potato is higher in sugar
content and therefore in food value.
1t also keeps better and ships bet
Ter although any sweet potato Is a
different commodity to distribute.
Again, the southern potato by reason
of the rich southern soil, the long
growing season and the cheap labor
! of that region can be procured some
what more cheaply than the north
! ern potato. Once h southernerS
have perfected a system of distribu-
ton through the North, they will be
able to give the northerners an eX-
cellent food at a low price.
The trouble is hat preferences in
matters Of eating are formed al
most entirely by habit. However
fine the southern sweet potato may
seem to a southerner, it Is not going
to be acceptable at first to a north
erner who is accustomed to the Jer-
sey potato. Most northern people
regard the sweet potato as a substi-
tute for the Irish potato, to be USED
OISO All a WlllO " q Siiati6Cs 800
want something about the same con-
sistency as an Irish potato, which
they a mash up with a fork and
eat with gravy. "Mealy" Is the ad-
jective that describes q good potato
of any kind to the northerner. and
the southern potato Is no more mealy
than an apple. 1t Is succulent. The
southerner likes it baked OF candied,
and he is apt to cut it in chunks
and eat it with a lot of butter.
These little dinner table habits are
the deciding factors in the fate of
any food. What the ~southerners'
must do is to educate the country to
appreciate their potato. 1t can be
done and they know it, for it hos
been done before. Intensive adver-
of the California orange MANIFOLD.
When the growing Of rice in the
Southwest began, there was almost
no market for American groSn rice.
The Carolina rice fields had long
been out of business. The north
erners did rot know how to a rice.
The ~rice-growers formed an asso-
citation and opened rice kitchens in
northern cities, from which they
served rice in all it's many attractive
forms to all who would eat. In this
way they established n market for
their product. 1t nae been suggcs-
ted that the sweet potato men might
~ much for ,h.sic cause if they would
follow this precedent and open
booths for the serving OF candied
sweet potatoes and sweet potato pie,
cooked by southern chefs. They
could soon convince the most ekep-
tica1 hat the southern sweet potato
deserves a place on the table, and a
place of its own. 1t need not GUST
the northern sweet potato.
The Fragile Spud
- Next to the creation OF a market,
the most serious problem facing the
sweet potato grower is that OF dis.
tribution. In fact the distribution OF
the sweet potato has long been rec
ognized by government experts as
one of the most difficult problems OF
farm marketing. The sweet potato
is the most delicate and tempera-
mental of vegetables. 1t does not
endure well either cold or rough
treatment.
When sweet potatoes are gath
cred, they are cured before being
sent to market. This is done by
placing them for about ten days in
a room with a temperature of about
ninety degrees, which is afterward
reduced to about fifty-five. That is
the ideal keeping temperature for a
sweet potato. 1T subjected to a tenn
perature of about thirty, it is often
ruined. 1t will not stand freezing
at all, and even a severe chill m
pairs it's keeping qualities. Like
wise, a bruise or jar is apt to be an
injury from which a sweet potato
never Even turning a
sweet potato over a been known
to result in it's spelling, when pota-
toes that were not turned over kept
in perfect condition. Scientists have
never been able to learn what makes
the sweet potato such a fragile vege-
table.
To reach market in good condi-
ton and keep through the winter.
a sweet potato must be clean and
free from disease. 1t must be cured
properly and must be shipped to a
point near that Of consumption be.
fore cold weather sets in. After No
vember, sweet potatoes can be
shipped only for short distances in
lined Blankets and insulated cars.
What the southerners need, M
what they plan soon to have. are
associations which will control stor-