NEW CHINESE POTATO, OR YAM. 



The method which has been found to answer best in France, according to " Le Bon 

 Jardinier," for 1855, consists in cutting the tuburs into fragments of moderate size, 

 placing their crowns, or eyes, in small pots, in April, and then transplanting them into a 

 deep, rich soil as soon as the spring frosts are no longer to be feared. Notwithstanding 

 the plant has a tendency to plunge its roots into the earth perpendicularly, any distortion 

 to which it might be liable in the pot will not be in the least prejudicial to its future 

 growth, as is the case with other yams. It is even thought that its cultivation in large 

 pots, buried under ground, might be successfully adopted in some cases, particularly 

 where the soil is of a permeable nature, which would allow it to extend its roots to a 

 depth of more than a yard. 



If it is desired to multiply the plant rapidly, in a higli latitude, it can be done by 

 means of suckers, or slips. To this end, there may be cut in June or July as many slips 

 as there are sets of leaves on the vine, and plant them side by side under a glass in a 

 light, sandy soil, sufficiently deep for 

 the bud at the base of the leaves 

 merely to be covered. The better 

 way is to let the leaves remain entire, 

 unless they are disproportion ably 

 large. In about five or six weeks, 

 the slips will take root, and present 

 at the angle of each leaf a small tuber 

 about the size of a pea, as denoted in 

 the cut. 



These scarcely increase in size 

 during the season, but become sufficiently ripened, on ceasing to water them, to replant 

 in the spring, when they will grow with as much vigor as if produced from the cut tubers, 

 as shown in the figures below. 



In this manner, each plant may be made to yield a hundred fold. Th) reproduction 

 the vines, however, may be brought about in more temperate latitudes, by pli 

 in a garden in the open air. In this case, it is better nut to cut up the vines 



