THE NEW CiriNESE POTATO, OR YAM. 



Continued from page 509. 



The flowers are dicccious, (hat is, the sexes growin;;on different plants, disposed in speci- 

 forni branches at the junction of the leaves. The corolla of the ma'es is composed of six 

 petals of a pale-yellow color ; the three outermost ones rounded, and the three inner 

 smaller ones of a roundish oval. The stamens, six in number are extremely small, though 

 well defined ; and the anthers are oval and supported by short filaments, grouped freely 

 in the centre of the flower. As the male plant only has been introduced, the female can- 

 not be described, and consequently no seeds produced before the latter can be produced. 



The roots, or tubers, vary in length and thickness, accord- 

 ing to the nature of the soil, in reference to lightness, depth, 

 and tenacity, which, no doubt, influences their form and 

 mode of development. The maximum size to which they 

 grow is about two inches in diameter, the larger end taper- 

 ing upwards to the size of the finger, as indicated in the cut 

 aside. They are covered by a brownish fawn-colored skin, 

 pierced by numerous rootlets. Under this envelop, is a cel- 

 lular tissue of a white opal color, very crispy, filled with 

 starch and a milky, mucilaginous fluid, with scarcely any 

 ligneous fibre. In cooking, this tissue softens and dries, but 

 to a greater degree, like that of the common potato, the taste 

 of which it much resembles. Each plant often produces 

 several tubers, though generally it has but one. They usu- 

 ally weigh about half a pound each, but sometimes three 

 pounds, running perpendicularly into the earth to the depth 

 of a yard. M. Decaisne, of France, says, however, that 

 those cultivated by him rarely exceeded 15 to 20 inches in 

 lengtli. 



The cultivation of this yam appears to be easy and sim- 

 ple. M. Decaisne, in the " Revue Horticole," for 1854, has 

 dcf^'cribed the method adopted in China, which is nearly as 

 follows : In autumn they choose the smallest tubers, which 

 they preserve from injury by frost by covering them in a pit 

 with earth and straw. The spring succeeding, they plant 

 them near each other in a trench, in well-prepared soil. 

 When they have put out shoots one or two yards in length, 

 they cut of!" the joints and leaves containing the buds and 

 plant them for production. For this purpose, they form the 

 ground into ridges, on the top of which a shallow trench is 

 made with the hand or some suitable implement, in which these joints are planted, cover- 

 ing them slightly with fine earth, with the leaves rising just on the surface. Should it 

 rain the same day, they shoot immediately ; if not, they water them gently until they do. 

 In fifteen or twenty days, they give birth to new tubers and stalks, the latter of which it 

 necessary to remove from time to time, to prevent them from taking root on the 

 us injure the development of the tubers already formed. 



