100 Chinese Yam. 



in. That it will grow upon sandy, and generally considered barren 

 soils, and thus affords an excellent means of turning waste land to a 

 useful purpose as well as to profit. 



IV. That it can be propagated with the greatest facility, as will be 

 seen by the remarks on cultivation, 



V. That it may remain in the ground several years without degene- 

 rating, but, on the contrary, each year it increases in size, weight and 

 nutriment. 



VI. That, when harvested, it may be preserved in cellars or sheds, 

 without vegetating, for many months after the potato has become useless 

 for food. 



When these things are considered, it cannot be doubted but that this 

 esculent must ere long come into general use, and obtain that considera- 

 tion, at the hands of all, which its intrinsic merits so imperatively demand. 

 Among those who are pre-eminent in the attention paid to this plant is 

 the learned Professor Decaisne, whose report is full in itself, and con- 

 clusively important in its results. 



CuLTivATiox. — M. de Montigny informs us that "the Chinese put 

 aside all the smallest roots at the taking up, and place them in pits or 

 trenches, covering them well with straw, over which they afterwards 

 spread a coating of earth. In the spring they are taken out, and laid 

 horizontally in beds of prepared mould, where they soon germinate, and 

 produce long trailing stems. As soon as they have attained about six 

 feet in length (which is generally in a month or six weeks' time), they 

 are taken up, to be replanted and layered. The manner in which this 

 part of the operation is performed is as follows : the ground having been 

 prepared and thrown into ridges, either by means of the plow or spade, 

 a slight furrow is made on the lop of each ridge with a rake or hoe, and 

 the plant laid in it lengthwise, and the whole of it, except the leaves, is 

 covered lightly with earth, care being that they (the leaves) are left ex- 

 posed : if it rains the same day, they take immediately ; but should it be 

 dry weather, it is necessary to water them till they begin to grow. At 

 the end of fifteen or twenty days they will produce tubers, and at the 

 same time throw out long trailing stems, which ought to be examined 

 from time to time, to prevent their taking root, and so producing another 

 set of tubers, which latter would injure the full growth of the first or 

 main crop." 



This statement is nearly correct, as applied to the native haunts of the 

 Yam, but most certainly not appropriate to the climate of England. A 

 writer in the Gardcncr^s Chronicle says : 



I fear this will prove one of the most complete horticultural fiams 

 we have had for a long time. In common, I suspect, with some 

 hundreds of your readers, I purchased some tubers in February last 

 and planted them in pots, placing the pots in bottom heat in a forcing 

 house. The shoots were a long time before they made their appear- 

 ance above ground, seeming to require much heat; however, in May 



