JAMAICA YAM CULTIVATION. 13 



vain tonus certainly one of the most important articles of exchange at 

 the large markets, and it would be no exaggeration to say that it is the 

 staple food plant of the Jamaica blacks and a most important vegetable 

 of the Europeans and half-castes. 



Just when and by whom the yam was introduced into Jamaica. I have 

 not been able to discover. It is not, however, indigenous, although 

 some of the varieties which will be mentioned later are probably of 

 Jamaican origin. 



The culture of this vegetable is not, as might be supposed, confined 

 to the native blacks, but is given serious attention by some of the most 

 intelligent planters on the island. Especially suited as the yam is to 

 culture in the higher altitudes, it forms a part of many coffee planters' 

 business to grow a certain number of yams for their own consumption 

 and for sale to the blacks. The profits from such culture are not great, 

 but the business is reasonably remunerative. 



So far as the consular digest shows, no yams are exported to 

 America, although were a taste for the finest variety created, there 

 would certainly be a good market for it, as it Is a vegetable of suffi- 

 ciently characteristic flavor to win for itself a place on the finest hotel 

 tables and attract the attention of the most exacting. The variety 

 which is so superior to all others, is known by the name of " Yampu ," 

 and is worthy the serious consideration of Florida and Louisiana 

 planters as a vegetable to be grown for the highest-priced or fancy 

 markets*. Certainly, a baked Yampie is more palatable than a baked 

 Irish potato, and the crisp skin of the baked root has a flavor not pos- 

 sessed by any vegetable, so far as I know. 



The culture of the plant is not so simple as might be supposed at 

 first sight, and, as in the treatment of many plants, different varieties 

 (in this case species, botanically speaking) require different methods. 



The Yampie is a vine resembling our American species of smilax 

 somewhat, with clusters of large fleshy roots like sweet potatoes. It 

 is propagated by what are called ik heads, " which are no more than the 

 extremities of the enlarged roots, containing adventitious buds which 

 under suitable condititions are able to develop into new vines. These 

 heads are planted (in Jamaica, at any time of year almost) in hills 6 to 

 8 feet apart each wa} T , 3 heads being placed 6 inches or so apart in 

 each hill, and a stout 8-foot pole is driven near one of the heads, upon 

 which the vigorous vines are trained. Planted in rich soil they grow 

 without any attention other than the cultivation necessary to keep the 

 weeds down, and from each single head several vines spring. These 

 vines draw their nourishment from the head, sucking it dry as a 

 squeezed orange, and by the time the vines are established on their 

 own roots they begin forming underneath the heads the fleshy roots 

 which form the crop. In the course of five or six months these roots 

 are large enough to harvest. The roots are gathered without destroy- 



