387 



biR' ol' these ^^I'oiips siill'er<'(| \ci'\ miicli troiii \\liit<' ;iiits, — the 

 ^iiToup with most iiiaiiciita sap. and did not yiehl up to anticipation. 

 Whether the wav in whieli it siiUVred was connected with the 

 delicac)' of the skin, oi' was not. is uncertain; hut it must he re- 

 marked that no otiier race sn(Vei-ed in the same wa\ ; and no other 

 race has l)eeii noted as haxin.i;' a more delicate skin. Aiiain in l!tl.") 

 it sutf'ert'd rather considerahly fi'om sliiu's. which made i>its inti> the 

 tissue J'eedin,ii' on it. 



'J'he gi'oup of sets with the i^reater amount <d' mai;eiita sap 

 I'etui'ned an axerajic weight of ] Ihs. :! oz. (:;'i(i(l grammes) or at 

 the rate of i tons licwt. pei' acre: tlie other <:roup returned an 

 average wei.yht of .-) fhs. l'^ o/. Ciiios -famines ') or at the rate of 

 ."> tons 1.")^ ewt. pel' acre. 



Both races, 3 and G, i)ro(luee(l an enormous number of bulbils, 

 lu 1915, 15 lb.s. (6<S04 grammes) of Inilhils were pieked up off 

 the ground under a row of l'(nirteen i)lants of Xo. 'i. and this does 

 not represent the total weight pro(hic<'(|. 



In minor characters the yams which are now under discussion, 

 all being characterised by abuixhint upi-ising lleshy shoots, \aried 

 so greatly as to make it seem (piite i)ossible that an undue ]n;o- 

 minence may have been givi'n here to the possession of these shoots. 

 Tlie tirst two, i.e. >s!Os. 2 and (i. had no i)rickles on the stem but 

 tlie Fijian Xo. 150 had. No. 2 produces leaves of quite ordinary 

 shajx-: but Xo. 6 ])rod uees leaves which are almost hastate. No. 

 1.")() was noticed to have the nerves rather ])rominent at the back 

 of the leaf-blades, more so than the others. 



SIIOKT YAMS. 



On I'late 2 at the very l)ottom, is illustrated yam Xo. 70, 

 whieli from tlie culinary point is perliap>s the best of all that have 

 been grown. As the figure suggests, it is far from being a heavy 

 yielder: but in 1916 the largest tul)er produced weighed 10-|- lbs. 

 (4763 grammes), and the second largest 10 lbs. 2 oz. (4593 

 grammes), the third 8| lbs. (3<S55 grammes) and the fourth 7 lbs. 

 15 oz. (3600 grammes), but the average of the whole however was 

 only 6 lbs. 4 oz. (2835 grammes). 



In 1915 tlie soil in which the races of yam were grown was not 

 good; but this race returned pi-oportionately well. 



Its tubers are rounded, and (piite smooth : the fiesh is ivory 

 white, with just a little magenta sa]) in the layer which uiulerlies 

 the skin and traces deeper in the tissue. Its return per acre at 

 the above average would be 6 tons 54 ewt. It keeps well, and 

 sprouts tardily. 



Race Xo. 26. which was figured in the hardens' Bulletin on 

 p. 299 as figure 9, is a Thilippine yam very similar to the last: 

 and also very good for the table. Its flesh is ivory white and 

 rather firm, without any magenta sa]). Its average yield in 1916 

 was only 2 lbs. per plant (907 grammes J. 



