586 FIELD AND GARDEN PRODUCTS 



larly formed, produces a slender twining and high climbing vine. 

 The root contains a large amount of starch, sometimes 25 per cent 

 and hence is highly nutritious and in tropical lands largely takes the 

 place of the potato. However people of Caucasian extraction do not 

 relish it so well. It lacks the mealiness of the potato. The yam was 

 planted at the Louisiana Experiment Station on poor land in rov, r a 

 six feet apart, and six feet apart in the row. It was fertilized with a 

 small amount of stable manure and acid phosphate, and given a low 

 trellis to cling to. 



It grows in rampant fashion, the vines being from ten to twenty 

 feet in length. The season of freedom from frost here does not seem 

 to be long enough for it to form any aerial tubers in the axils of 

 the leaves, as only a few have appeared in the axils of lower 

 leaves. These aerial tubers are used for seed. It is probable that the 

 plant could be rapidly propagated by cuttings of the vine, as these 

 have a strong tendency to root at the joints, wherever the vine rests 

 on the ground. 



A growth of one season gives yams as heavy as two pounds. 

 When broken these yams are very mucilaginous. Boiled like pota- 

 toes they are very palatable and wholesome food. They keep in the 

 ground from year to year without becoming woody, and constantly 

 increase in size. A small patch of them grown in the garden would 

 yield every day in the year an excellent food for the table, by digging 

 as wanted. Taking me yam does not injure the growth of the re- 

 mainder of the plant, if the roots are not much disturbed. Many old 

 Floridans in all parts of the State now grow yams for family use. 

 Newcomers may find it profitable to cultivate a patch for this pur- 

 pose. They are excellent food for all kinds of stock, but possibly it 

 would not be profitable to cultivate them for this purpose only, as 

 there are other crops which might give larger returns. (Fla. B. 35.) 



Golden Seal. As in the case of many other native medicinal 

 plants, the early settlers learned of the virtues of golden seal through 

 the American Indians, who used the root as a medicine and the yellow 

 juice as a stain for their faces and a dye for their clothing. 



This medicinal plant was formerly plentiful in high open 

 woods from southern New York to Minnesota and western Ontario 

 south to Georgia and Missouri, ascending to an altitude of 2,500 

 feet in Virginia. It is now becoming scarce and since it is com- 

 mercially quite valuable, bringing a minimum price of $2 per 

 pound, and being readily sought at home as well as abroad, the 

 plant is now being cultivated with success. The cultivation of 

 golden seal is simple. There are three ways of propagation: (1) 

 by seed, (2) by division of rhizomes, and (3) by means of budding 

 the roots. Artificial shade, imitating that of the woods, should be 

 provided. The root should be collected in autumn after the plants 

 have matured seed. After the roots are removed from the earth 

 they should be carefully freed from soil and all foreign particles. 

 They should then be sorted, and small, undeveloped roots and 

 broken pieces may be laid aside for replanting, After the roots have 

 been cleaned and sorted they are ready to be dried or cured. The 



