AMERICAN INSTITUTE. 461 



tuber; for although, the Irish potato has been cultivated about 

 Canton and Whampoa for scores of years, it has not become a 

 common vegetable among the people." [P. 44. 



Thus, then, it would seem that the yam, though cultivated, and 

 its qualities known, is not extensively used. On the other hand, 

 the sweet potato, rice, the arumes, leguminous and cruciform 

 plants make up the great amount of their food. 



The two chapters of this work — 6th and 13th — are both well 

 worth reading on this subject. 



Climate of China. — "At Shanghae, 31 deg. 24 min. north, the 

 minimum temperature of winter is 24 deg., and the maximum of 

 summer 100 deg. Ice is uncommon.'' [Vol. 1, p. 46. 



"At Pekin, in the extreme north, water is frozen from Decem- 

 ber to March. The \vinter ranges from 10 deg. to 25 deg., and 

 the summers are like those of Washington and Naples, the tempe- 

 rature rising from 95 deg to 105 deg., but more usually to from 

 75 deg. to 90 deg. The autumn is the pleasantest part of the 

 year. The air is then mild, the sky serene, and the weather 

 calm." [P. 45. 



These remarks, it will be seen, are made of the climate of the 

 north of China, Pekin being in latitude 40 deg. north. 



" The average temperature of the whole empire is lower than 

 that of any other in the same latitude, and the coast is subject to 

 the same extremes as that of the Atlantic States in America." 

 [P. 45. 



From all this it will also appear that the yam, however valua- 

 ble in an appropriate climate, is not probably adapted to the tem- 

 perature of our country north of Central Virginia, since nearly 

 all of China, where the yam is asserted to be cultivated freely, is 

 south of that point. 



Mr. Robinson fully concurred in this opinion. He thought it 

 might be a valuable plant for Florida, but not for New- York. 



NEW PLAN OF FENCING. 



D. R. Prindle of Genesee County, introduced models of a new 

 plan of fencing, made by nailing boards upon posts that are set 

 on the top of the ground, and two panels connected together by 

 wire pins, so as to set the panels at an angle to each other — which 

 makes a much cheaper fence than where the posts were set in the 

 ground. It is more durable and economical, he contends, than 

 any other fence. 



