1919 :\ EXPEBIMENTS ON YAM CULTIVATION. 5 



To the small planter who wants to know what he can reasonably 

 expect with good cultivation from an ordinary '• lot " 100 ft. by 50 ft. ; i.e. 

 5,000 sq. ft. planted at 4 ft. by 15 in. he could work out his estimate as 

 follows : — 



Value of crop ... ... •• ••• $66.78 



Cost of cultivation and plants ... ... 28.40 



Profit ... ... ••• — 3Q-^^ 



To the larger planter who requires to reckon in acres, it may be 

 added that, provided the conditions of soil &c. be the same over the 

 whole area cultivated, the crop as calculated from that reaped at the 

 distances under trial would be approximately : — 



11*20 tons per acre on the 



11-32 



15-49 



18'51 ;, ,J ... 



17-89 



These j'ields are very similar to those obtained at St. Augustine 

 last year. 



The total crop reaped at St. Clair during last season from all kinds 

 of Yams and under different methods of cultivation amounted to 

 17,332 lb. or an average of 4-4 lb. per yam reaped : 11,553 lb. of the crop 

 was sold at 2 cents per lb. = $231.06, and 1,201 lb. at 3 cents = $36.03 ; 

 total value $267.09. The balance, 4,578 lb., was reserved for planting. 

 The cost of cultivation and reaping, including yams for plants, can be 

 reckoned at about 3 to 4 cents per plant at 15 in. apart and as the 

 average yield per plant was 4-4 lb., worth at 2 cents per lb., about 

 9 cents, there is a profit of 5 to 6 cents on each yam. 



EXPERIMENTS FOR 1919-20. 



An experiment has been laid out this year to test whether there is 

 any advantage in selecting large yams for planting. A small area has 

 been planted from : — 



(1.) 1 lb. plants cut from large tubers averaging 8 lb. each. 

 (2.) Whole small tubers averaging i lb. each. 

 (3.) Aerial tubers averaging 2^ oz. each. 



The varieties obtained from Barbados last year and varieties 

 collected from other sources in the past are being tested on a larger 

 scale than was possible before. 



