VARIOUS FARM PRODUCTS 585 



is scarcely known outside of this district. The tuberous offsets of the 

 rootstock are the principal edible portion of the plant, though the 

 leaves and, in nearly all varieties, the rhizomes are eaten. The tubes 

 are used like potatoes; the leaves are boiled and eaten like spinach. 

 The crop is grown preferably in moist soil; a great variety of soils 

 may be utilized, however, and 6,000 to 12,000 plants per acre may 

 be set, according to the variety. The yield per acre is from 7 to 

 15 tons in ordinary soil. The "head," or top of the rootstalk, is 

 preferred for planting ; the tubers or any part of the rhizome system 

 possessing "eyes" may be used. Tubers may be left in the ground 

 in the dry season for six to twelve weeks after ripening. Harvesting 

 is usually done in the dry season, from December to May. Tubers 

 keep well if kept dry after digging. The crop has no serious fungus 

 nor insect pest. Its introduction into the frostless region of the 

 United States is possible. The fresh tubers may be shipped to the 

 Eastern and Central States. Fresh tubers yield about 30 per cent 

 of flour; this may be shipped to any point. The cost of raw material 

 to produce 1 pound of flour is about 2 cents. (B. P. I., B. 164; 

 Porto Rico B. 6.) 



Yams. In January, 1899, collections of yams (Dioscorea spp.) 

 were imported by the United States Department of Agriculture from 

 Jamaica and Barbados, British West Indies, for distribution mainly 

 in Florida, where they have been tried by a number of experimenters. 

 Several varieties of yams are already cultivated in the South, but not 

 so many nor so good as those grown in the West Indies. The culti- 

 vation of this crop is not, as might be supposed, confined to the 

 negroes, but is given serious attention by some of the most intelligent 

 planters in Jamaica. It is especially adapted to the higher portions 

 of the island. Many of the coffee planters grow it for their own use 

 and for sale to the less thrifty negroes. The profits from its cultiva- 

 tion are not great, but it is reasonably remunerative. The consular 

 reports do not show that there is any commercial importation of yams 

 into the United States, but a market could undoubtedly be created 

 for the best varieties, as it is a vegetable of sufficiently characteristic 

 flavor to win a place for itself on the best hotel tables. The variety 

 which is superior to all others is the "yampie." This is worthy of 

 serious consideration by the Florida truck farmers and by the Louisi- 

 ana planters as a vegetable to be grown for the highest priced or fancy 

 markets. A baked yampie is more palatable than a baked potato, 

 and the crisp skin has a flavor different from that of any other vege- 

 table. 



The West Indian yam is not a crop that will supplant the sweet 

 potato, but the different varieties will form a welcome addition to 

 subtropical agriculture in the United States and in the new insular 

 dependencies. The finer varieties, possessing as they do a characteris- 

 tic flavor, will undoubtedly fill an important place in the northern 

 markets. (Div. B. Dept. Agr. Cir. 21.) There are, as said before, 

 many varieties of yams, different species cultivated in different parts 

 of tropical and sub-tropical countries. The cultivated yam, with its 

 large tuberous roots, resembling the sweet potato, though not so regu- 



