George Washington Carver: A National Agricultural Library Digital Exhibit

1924

National Agricultural Library

Only two distinctly starchy vegetables, the potato and the sweet potato, are commonly grown in the United States. A fall-maturing crop of the same character— the dasheen— was introduced a number of years ago for cultivation in the Southern States, primarily to supplement the small supply of home-grown potatoes. Most of the potatoes used in the far South are shipped from the North, and a part of this need might well be met by dasheens locallv grown.

The foreign populations of our larger eities formerly used considerable quantities of dasheens and related vegetables imported from the Orient and the West Indies. This market is now supplied largely by dasheens grown in the Southern States.

Dasheens are used generally for home consumption by hundreds of growers and to a small extent by native Americans in a number of cities. Conservatism in food habits and the frequent marketing of dasheens of unattractive appearance or inferior quality have prevented a more rapid growth of the market demand. Continuous effort by growers and others in the South to make the excellence of this vegetable known to winter tourists and care in marketing only the best dasheens are calculated to bring about a largely increased demand.

The Dasheen: A Southern Root Crop for Home Use and Market