384 



TJaoe Xo. 10 from the riiilip]jine islands whicli judging by 

 the figure of the onlv tuber raised in 1914 (this Bulletin, Xo. 9 

 p. 299 fig. 2) ap])eared a "Long Yam," on further cultivation and 

 with more material for examination eomes to be classed as a " Half- 

 long Yam." It is a heavy yielder, the tuber of 191-1 having weigh- 

 ed 16 lbs. 9 oz. (7513 grammes) ; then on poorer soil in 1915 it 

 returned an average of 9 lbs. G oz. per hill; and in 1916 it re- 

 turned an average yield of 11 lbs. 1 oz. (5018 grammes) or per 

 acre 11 tons 5 ewt. The skin is free from rootlets. Under it is 

 a layer of tissue containing magenta sap; and again through the 

 flesh is magenta sap diffused so as to give it almost the tint of 

 crushed strawberries. 



Race Xo. 18, also from the Philippine islands, which furnished 

 figure on p. 299 of this Bulletin is a bulky half-long yam. In 

 1914 it yielded one tuber weighing 7 lbs. 7 oz. (3374 grammes). 

 In 1915 it returned an average yield of 6 lbs. 6 oz. (2892 

 grammes) : and in 1916 it yielded on the average 6 lbs. 7 oz. (2920 

 grammes) or at the rate of 6 tons 9| cwt. per acre. It has but few 

 rootlets on the surface of the skin : and no magenta sap. It is 

 well reported on as a table yam. 



"'The race Xo. 8 is again another from the Philippine islands; 

 and, the first tuber which it produced in Singapore, was figured 

 in this Bulletin p. 299 figure 1. Further cultivation shows that 

 it has in some degree a tendency to produce twin tubers, although 

 not so strongly as in those races which have already been discussed. 

 In 1914 the tuber which it gave weighed 9 lbs. 13 oz. (4448 

 grammes) ; in 1915 the average yield was 8 lbs. 8 oz. (3855 

 grammes) ; in 1916 when twenty one plants M^ere raised, it returned 

 an average of 13 lbs. (5897 grammes) or per acre nearly 13 tons 

 2 cwt. The flesh is yellowish with just a trace of magenta sap in 

 the layer under the skin : and it is very mucilaginous. 



As regards minor (]ualities, these Half-long Yams, most of 

 them being of Philippine origin, vary somewhat in regard to the 

 shape of the leaf; but they \ary in no way as regards the absence 

 of prickles from the stem. As regards the foliage, Xo. 76 has 

 conspicuously rounded auricles on the largest leaves; Xo. 18 some- 

 what approaches it ; but the others possess auricles drawn out more 

 or less into a point. The uprising fleshy shoots of Xos. 76 and 128 

 have already been mentioned ; it remains to add that Xo. 8 at times 

 also produces them. The first and the last of these three have 

 yellowish flesh. 



The races illustrated by plate 3 are Half-long Yams which 

 l")roduce great numbers of these fleshy uprising shoots. Both were 

 oljtained in Singapore: the upper one, Xo. 2, was obtained from 

 the deserted garden at the top of Bukit Timah. wliere probably 

 some caretaker, and if so most likely a native of the Madras 

 Presidency, had planted it : and the lower Xo. 6 was obtained from 

 a market in the town. 



Xo. 2 is tlie ([uickest to sprout of all the yams that have l)een 

 under observation : this quickness is a great fault, for it means that 

 the vams in store will not keep, but shoot out stems and deplete 



