383 



Mo. 30 from the Philippino islands provod similar in charac- 

 ters, ])ut perhaps the Hesh was a little more vellow. Its yield on the 

 average was 15 lbs. 5 oz. (()!>4() grammes) or at the rate of lo tons 

 7i cwt. per acre. 



Again Xo. 1;3 from the rhilip])inc islands proved to he rather 

 similar; hut its tiihers were more commonly twins only, instead of 

 heing as in the foregoing in niimher more than twins. The skin 

 of the tuber was rather rooty : and when it was bruised, the flesh ex- 

 posed very quickly turned orange. The average yield was 7 lbs. 

 2 oz. (3232 grammes) or at the rate of 7 tons 3 cwt. per acre. 



In leaf-characters all these three Philippine races shewed a 

 close similarity, having the auricles of the largest leaves peculiarly 

 elongated. In the year 1915 they were all late in sprouting from 

 the ground and also early in dying down, thus heing short-seasoned. 

 The conditions, however, in whicli they were then being grown were 

 not ideal, and the twinning did not assert itself; so that N"o. 68 

 was figured in the Philippine Agriculturist and Forester iii. p. 207 

 fig. 12 as a solitary tuber. The stem characters of the three are 

 similar, just as we have seen the leaf characters to ])e; but in rooti- 

 ness of the tuber and in the behaviour of the flesh on exposure to 

 oxidation differences are observable. 



ITALF-LOXG YAMS. 



On Plate 2 the upper line of the lower block represents a 

 type of yam by no means uncommon where this vegetable is grown. 

 There are six tubers in the ro\\% the outer two at each end having 

 no uprising shoots, thus showing a variability in regard to this 

 peculiarity. The' race sliowing tliis feature is Xo. 76, and of 

 Pliilippine origin. Tlie tubers in shape are lumpy and bulky, 

 having an average weight of Id lbs. 14 oz. (4933 grammes), at 

 which rate tlie yield per acre woidd l)e nearly 11 tons. 



The Fijians seem particularly to fayour races yielding tubers 

 of this shape, so that in the large consignment which Mr. Jackson 

 was so good as to send to us in 1902 fully three quarters of the 

 total had it. . But many of the races which he supplied have dropped 

 out of our experimental cultivation, leaving as representing the 

 type Xo. 106. 



Xo. 128 obtained from the South face of the Khasia hills or 

 from the plain below produces lower uprising fleshy shoots than 

 did the plants of 76 possessing them. The flesh is white : and the 

 greatest tuber weighed 18 lbs. 15 oz. The average return was 8 

 lbs. 5 oz. (3770 grammes), and at this rate the yield per acre 

 would be 8 tons 7 cwt. 



Xo. 106 produces tubers which externally are remarkably 

 smooth and free from rootlets. Beneath the skin is a layer con- 

 taining magenta sap; ami of the magenta sap again there may be 

 a little more deeply in the otherwise quite white flesh. Its average 

 yield was 7 lbs. 6 oz. (3345 grammes) or at the rate of just over 

 7 tons 8 cwt. per acre. 



