Other Vegetables 287 



ARRACACIA XANTHORRHIZA (A. ESCULENTA) 



This excellent vegetable of the mountain regions of 

 Venezuela and Colombia resembles the carrot or parsnip, 

 to which it is related, and to which its flavor is said to be 

 superior. It is grown in Porto Rico on the mountains. 

 It is well suited for culture on all tropical mountains 

 at elevations of a few thousand feet. It is grown like 

 carrots or celery (without blanching) ; but seed is not 

 used (and is rarely produced). The crop is grown from 

 small "heads" which form at the bases of the leaf-stalks. 

 It is said to mature in four months sufficiently to be of 

 use ; and a longer period, up to eleven months, allows the 

 roots to grow larger. There are several varieties. It is 

 eaten boiled, fried in slices, or in soups. 



YAM-BEAN (Pocfiyrhizus erosus and P. tuberosus) 



There are two or three kinds of this tropical plant. 

 The one grown in Mexico has two varieties at least. It 

 is grown on ridges in irrigated fields. The roots, which 

 resemble turnips in shape, are eaten raw or cooked. 

 They are dug up before they get large and woody, and the 

 plants are not allowed to mature seed. A yam-bean is 

 much cultivated in Indo-China and the Malay archipelago 

 for its roots, of which it yields under a ton an acre in three 

 or four months. The roots are eaten raw or boiled, and 

 contain 22 per cent of starch, 11 per cent of sugar, and 

 12 per cent of proteid. The yam-bean is worth culti- 

 vating in tropical and subtropical countries. The pods 

 of one kind are eaten like string beans. 



