304 



They occur both wild and cultivated and those that are wild pro- 

 duce copious thorns on the roots. Thorns, however, are not a sure 

 distinguishing mark of wild races, for at least elsewhere some 

 cultivated races possess them, e.g. one which is in favour in Central 

 Burma and is there called Wet-ka u or Pig-cut-off yam because 

 of the way in which the thorns protect the tubers from the depreda- 

 tions of the wild pigs. 



The plants of the first Philippine race, — whether of wild 

 or cultivated origin I have not been informed, — produced the 

 large tubers (as figured on the right) and with these such 

 thorny roots. These tubers however were diffuse and placed 

 far beyond the protection of the thorns present, a circumstance 

 suggesting that we have in it a cultivated race, the thorns left being 

 indications of a not remote origin from the wild state. The tubers 

 were few in number but attained as much as 5 lbs. 6 oz. (2439 

 grammes) in weight. The other three races were without thorny 

 roots and distinguished as follows: — 



a. Tubers elongated, with a slight tendency to be diffuse, 



reaching in weight i lb. 8 oz. (640 grammes). 



b. Tubers small, many, closely bunched, attaining in weight 



4 oz. only (113 grammes). 



c. Tubers lobed, few, and some of them rather large, attain- 



ing in weight I lb. 5 oz. (596 grammes). 



The figures given are drawn exactly to scale : a is numbered 2 ; 

 b is numbered 3 ; and c is numbered i. 



The races will be the subject of further experiments in 1915. 

 when they will be tested against those brought from India and against 

 others newly received from Saigon. 



PREPARATION OF YAMS FOR THE TABLE. 



Europeans in the East do not know, how to cook yams : therefore 

 the following recipes are reproduced from one of the publications of 

 the Imperial Department of Agriculture for the British West Indies. 



Roasted F^w^.— Lay a yam before the grates of the stove or in 

 the oven, turning it occasionally until cooked, scrape off the outer 

 skin, cut into pieces or mash with butter; serve hot. 



Baked Yams. — Pare a yam, put it in the oven and bake until 

 soft, take it out of the skin, mash with butter, put back into the 

 skin ; cut in pieces and serve hot. 



Boiled y«w5.— Pare a yam, put it into boiling water, cook until 

 tender ; serve whole. 



