696 



corn, etc.. 



6-12 



Antiquorum), " Ochro " (Hib 



are commonly j)lanted. The 



according to variety, cultural and climatic conditions, and for 



similar reasons the yield may vary — an average crop mav be from 



kind 



4-5 tons j)er acre, per annum. From observations made at the 

 Agricultural Station, Ibadan, S. Nigeria, the yield of some 30 



ons per acre; the plants were 

 2 ft. apart on ridges 4 ft. apart (Johnson, Ann. Rep. Agric. 

 Dept. S. Prov. Nigeria, 1917, p. 7; 1918, p. 8). Four acres 

 planted in Ilorin Province gave yields of 8,007 lb., 6,000 lb., 

 6,000 lb., and 5,400 lb. respectively, and the yams produced by 

 180 individual plants varied from 1-18 lb. per plant. The 

 ground was planted (July 14th) — native fashion— with local 

 native cotton between the rows. The yams were planted on 

 May 12th and reaped the following January, 5, 6, 7, and 8th 

 (Ann. Rep. Dept. Agric. N. Nigeria— Ilorin Province, 1914, p. 15). 

 In this Province the yam crop is one of the most important for 

 food, especially amongst the Yorubas and from Bode Sadu it is 

 an important article for forwarding by rail to the South. It 

 forms a great part of the food of the natives throughout the year ; 

 they commence digging the new yams about June, but the crop 

 is not fully ripe until nearly the end of the rains (Thornton, Rep. 

 Exp. Farm, Ilorin, Dept. Agric. N. Nigeria, 1917, p. 12). In 

 Trinidad, "Barbados Lisbon," "Horn" and "Red" Yams, 

 planted 2 ft. apart in trenches 3 ft. apart, at the end of May and 

 beginning of June (1917) and reaped in the last two weeks of 

 February 1918 gave, for the " Lisbon "—the most prolific yielder 

 an estimated return of 18-47 tons per acre (Freeman, Agric. 

 News, Barbados, 1918, p. 198). 



From the dried yam, flour is made, used as food at all times 

 of the year (Thornton, I.e.). Some investigation was made as to 

 the possibihty of shipping dried and shced roots or flour from 

 Nigeria. The flour was found to contain about twdce as much 



less 



Cassava " flour {Maiiihot 



issima 



that of potato flour except that the percentage of protein was 

 rather lower. It seemed doubtful on the whole whether yam 

 roots or flour could be remuneratively exported under normal 

 conditions (local prices, Jan. 1918, 121.-151. per ton) in com- 



with 



Kingdom, 9?.-13Z. per ton). 



farina " (pre-war 



There were 5 samples of flour examined in the course of the 

 inquiry at the Imperial Institute, prepared specially from the 

 varieries " Efuru," " lyawo Olorun," " Odo," " Olonko " [all 

 believed to be Dioscorea cayenensis] and " Apepe " (Johnson, 

 I.e. pp. g-1 1, q.v. for analyses of " lyawo Olorun " and " Olonko "). 



Be/.—" Sur deux Plantes Alimentaires Coloniales peu connues 

 {Dioscorea bubilfera L. et Tacca involucrata) , Heckel & Schlagden- 

 hauffen, in Revue des Sciences Naturelles Appliquees, Paris, 1892 ; 

 (1) "Histoire Naturelle du Dioscorea bulbifera (Plante, Bulbe 



