A correspondent says : " Did you ever see a sweet potato bloom? As largely as we plant them in the South I have never seen but one; I made a picture of it. We had a friend who on one acre of ground made 750 bushels of that very palatable vegetable".

[Never saw it blossom in the open air, but plants grown in pots and kept in a hot-house will bloom toward spring. It is one of the evidences sometimes adduced of the fact that there is a bud variation as well as variation from seed, that the numerous varieties of sweet potato have originated from changes in the roots without plants even blooming. - Ed. G. M].

One of your correspondents writes (October number of Gardeners' Monthly) : Did you ever see a sweet potato bloom? As largely as we plant them in the South I have never seen but one, and I made a picture of it".

You do not state the locality from which your correspondent writes, but I can say that in this latitude the sweet potato blooms abundantly every season - some varieties more freely than others. But as common as are the flowers, mature seed is extremely rare. The flower on casual inspection seems perfect, - the stigmas seem capable of performing their duties, - the stamens are there with their anthers, but in every case I have examined the latter are destitute of pollen. I suppose this is the defect. The flowers, however, in rare cases, do fertilize. I have heard of perfect and mature seeds in this State, also Georgia and Florida; and I believe that some of numerous varieties have been raised from seed. I have reason to think also, - as you suggest in your comments, - that some owe their existence to bud or root variation. I have myself occasionally seen specimens which exhibited a well defined variation from others taken from the same vine.

A few years ago I inserted in one of our local papers an inquiry about the seeding of the sweet potato, and requested the farmers around to look into the matter and examine their potato fields. In the fall, some were brought in which had well developed capsules, and apparently perfect seeds. I also found some in my own potato patch, but though these were all planted carefully the following spring, they failed to germinate. I sent some of these seeds to the Editor of the Rural New Yorker, but as I never heard anything more of them, I presume they failed also. One of our neighboring farmers two years ago brought me some specimens of a potato which was confidently believed to be a seedling, as it was found growing alone where no vines or roots had ever been cultivated, and which came up as a seedling would do, feebly at first, and strongly resembling the common Morning Glory. I have cultivated it for two years. It seems unlike any of the varieties in cultivation here. The vine, though very luxuriant, seems not disposed to run, but rather to grow thickly in bunches over the ground. It is early and very productive - flesh and skin white, of oval shape and attains a large size, but it is insipid and without sweetness or flavor, not even improving by keeping through the winter.

It will probably on this account, not meet with general favor.

The sweet potato begins to bloom here about the end of August or early in September, and continues till frost. Imperfect capsules may be seen every year after the flowers bud. They resemble very much those of the Morning Glory.

Aiken, South Carolina.

Mr. Hillenmeyer, Lexington, Ky., kindly contributes the following additional note : " Flowers on this plant are, as your Southern correspondent observes, quite rare. In the autumn of 1883, however, they were frequently found in this locality. July, August and September to the 16th, were quite dry; from that date out, through the month of October the temperature was high with frequent showers. The vines made a strong second growth, the tubers kept poorly, but flowers were quite abundant.