393 



"Rar-o Xo. (';•> from tlic Pliili|)|iiiH' islaiuls diflVrod from all tlie 

 Pnilippino f^lu.it l)i-aii(lic(l or lolmlar vams in slian'iiii- witli the 

 Khasia Hills yam No. 1<!S. the cliaraclcrist ic of having- ii|)risiii,<i- 

 fleshv shoots. Tlic flcsli is free from maii-onta sap cxoopt just 

 under the skin, tliouoh there is just a faint salmon flush at all 

 depths. Flattenin<r is slifjhtlv (leveloi)efl. The return was 10 Ihs. 

 1 07., (4afi4 ijrammcs) or at the rate of 10 tons 2 ewt. per aere. 



Tn re<?arfl to foliacfe the series whieh is now nnder discussion 

 variefl eonsiderahly. Xos. 22, 5fi, CA, 66 and OR have the anrieles 

 of the largest leaves rounded. They are all PhiliDpine except Xo. OS 

 which is from Sais-on. Ouite differentlv shaped is the leaf of "NTo. 1 4(1 

 from Fiji, for it is nearly hastate: hut it does not stand seos^raphi- 

 callv apart from the others hecaiise the leaves of Xo. 50 from the 

 IMiilippine islands are somewhat similar. The leaves of all the 

 others are of the common tvpe. Xone produce prickles on the 

 stems. The colour of the tubers varies from ivory-white to salmon 

 and to a faint yellow tint. Obviously the combination of a delicate 

 maofenta flush with the yellow tint would produce the salmon. 



Tf, as a]ipears probable, vams of this short-I)ranched type are 

 in favour in certain reuioi's. it will l)e interesting- at a later date 

 and with fuller knowledge to recognise what it is in the soil and 

 a.Jrriculture of each favourino- country which determines the choice. 



PALMATE TUBET! WITIT A XAUROW ELOXOATEn XECK. 



"Race Xo. 74 from the Philippine islands, produces tubers 

 whicli mav be considered as a development of the short branched 

 condition. The flattenino- is considerable: the fingers are all or 

 nearly all in the same ])lane : and because there is a kind of neck 

 above, the whole is exactly hand-like. The flesh of the tuber of 

 race Xo. 74 is white and the surface is rooty. The return was at 

 the averaae 5 lbs. 13 oz. (2640 orammes) or per acre 5 tons 16^ 

 cwt. The foliage is of the type with broad rounded auricles; and 

 the stem bears no ju-ickles. 



YA:\tS WHTCn DO XOT SEXD THEIR TUBEES DOWX RTnAlGTTT 

 TXTO THR SOIL. 



To the scientist the most interesting of all the races of Yam 

 grown are those which do not bury their tubers deeplv, but have them 

 recurving or in some cases growing upwards from their very origin. 

 Assuredly as said above, these races owe their existence to the pro- 

 tection by man : also as suggested above little ci\ ilised man 

 liossibly found them excellently suitable for planting in the midden 

 by his hut, where as the tubers extruded he would throw just a 

 little earth and a little more refuse on to the top of them. Rum- 

 ])hius became acquainted with this type of yam and in tlie Her- 

 i)arium Amboinense devoted the ninth chapter of liis ninth book 

 to a description of it. in two forms, the Ubium anguimim or V})\ 



