CHINESE YAM. 



225 



Culture. — In autumn tlie smallest tubers are selected 

 and preserved from fix)st 07 covering them in a pit with 

 earth and straw. In spring these are planted near each 

 other in a trench, in well -prepared soil. When they have 

 put out shoots a yard or two in length, they cut off the 

 joints and leaves containing the buds, and plant for repro- 

 duction. For this purpose they form the ground into 

 ridges, on the top of which a shallow trench is made Avith 

 the hand or a hoe, in which these joints are planted, cover- 

 ing them slightly with fine earth, and with the leaves ris- 

 ing just on the surface. Should it rain they will shoot 

 immediately ; if not, water them gently until they do. In 

 fifteen or twenty days they develop new stalks and tubers, 

 the former of which must be removed from time to time to 

 prevent their taking root on the sides, and thus injure the 

 development of the tubers already formed. Another 

 method is to cut the tubers into fragments of moderate size, 

 placing their eyes in small pots, to be transplanted into 

 a deep, rich soil when the danger from frost is over. March, 

 in this latitude, would be the time for potting to transplant 

 in April. Probably they should be planted about twelve 

 inches asunder, in rows three or four feet apart, and culti- 

 vated like sweet potatoes, except no earthing-up is re- 

 quired. Where roots are required for reproduction, and 

 not for the table, let the vines as they extend be buried 

 horizontally, just beneath the surface, with the midrib of 

 the leaves resting on the ground. Small tubers, about the 

 size of a pea, will be formed at the angle of each leaf, which, 

 if kept until the next spring, will grow with as much vigor 

 as if produced from the cut tubers. 



Use. — The roots, which are oblong and tapering, are the 

 edible part. The maximum size to which they grow is two 

 inches in diame^ter, the larger end tapering upward to the 

 size of the finger. They are covered with a brownish, 

 10* 



