32 THE AMERICAN ROTAXIST 



this is the absolute hmit. Prices will naturally advance as our 

 stock approaches the vanishing point. Those who contem- 

 plate owning a complete set should hesitate no longer. 



Chinese Potato. — Those who patronize chop-suey estab- 

 lishments may have become acquinted with a curious vegetable 

 known as Telinga potato or Chinese potato. It is not a po- 

 tato nor closely related to the potato family, but it is never- 

 theless a very palatable vegetable, either raw or cooked. Ex- 

 amination of fresh specimens .'<ho\v them to be corms an inch 

 or two in diameter that are produced by an araceous plant 

 known as Candaruui potato. The plant is cultivated in 

 Eastern Asia and the fresh corms have a taste somewhat like 

 chestnuts. In flavor they are much superior to the dasheen, 

 another corm produced by a tropical species of Araceae. 



Bread from Tears. — A species of grass often cultivated 

 in old gardens for its hard grayish seeds is commonly known 

 as Job's tears {Coix lachryma-Johi). The seeds are fre- 

 quently made into necklaces and have the special merit for 

 this purpose of being perforated and ready to string. No- 

 body would think of using these hard bony objects for food, 

 but a variety has been discovered in the Philippines in which 

 the outer husk is so thin as to be easily milled and then can be 

 made into flour from which a very palatable bread can be 

 baked. The plant has yielded thirty bushels or more to the 

 acre and can be profitably grown wherever rice can. It 

 promises to be a valuable addition to the cereal crops of the 

 warmer parts of the world. It is already used to some ex- 

 tent in the Philippines and is being introduced to new countries 

 under the Phillippine name of Adlay. 



Edible Morning-glories. — Although the sweet potato 

 belongs to the morning-glory family, one does not commonly 

 think of the family as a producer of edible species. A plant 



