THE CHINESE YAM. 57 



the hands of an erratic nurseryman, who made such 

 extravagant claims as to its productiveness and vahie, 

 that those who tried it were greatly disappointed and 

 overlooked its real merits ; as a consequence, the Chinese 

 Yam fell into disrepute and became an object of ridicule. 

 The Chinese Yam has a root or tuber from eighteen inches 

 to three feet in length ; it is club-shaped, with the large 

 part below ; the portion near the surface of the ground is 

 not larger tiian the little finger, while the lower end is 

 two and sometimes three inches in diameter. The vine, 

 if furnished with a support, will grow to the hight of 

 twelve or fifteen feet, but is much shorter when allowed 

 to run upon the ground. The triangularly heart-shaped 

 leaves are about two inches long and of a dark glossy 

 green. The flowers are very minute, in small racemes in 

 the axils of the leaves ; they are dull yellow and are 

 pleasantly fragrant ; the plant is dioecious, only the male 

 or staminate form having been introduced, it bears no 

 fruit or seeds in this country. Large numbers of bulb- 

 lets about the size of a large pea are produced in the 

 axils of the leaves ; as these grow readily and afford the 

 most common method of proi)agating the plant they are 

 usually sold by seedsmen. 



It being very ornamental in Its character the plant is 

 used to cover verandas, trellises, etc. ; on account of the 

 fragrance of its flowers it is sometimes called and sold as 

 "The Cinnamon Vine." 



As a field or garden crop it has never become popular, 

 mainly on account of the difficulty in harvesting. The 

 small end of the tuber is exceedingly brittle, and from 

 the fact that the large end is lowest, it can not be 

 pulled, but an excavation must be made to the full depth 

 to which it reaches. This difficulty may be obviated to 

 some extent by planting upon ridges. 



Some persons who are exceedingly fond of the Chinese 

 yam, plant the roots in some convenient spot and, as they 



