ROOTS AND TUBERS WE EAT I9I 



tubers are fed to stock. Bruising and cutting 

 must be carefully guarded against in digging the 

 crop,, for the soil is full of fungous germs, and decay 

 is quickly started in a tuber with skin broken. 



We are fortunate to have this vegetable as a 

 staple crop. In England it is not grown; a few 

 varieties are hardy around Paris. The Europeans 

 who have learned to like them must depend on 

 imported potatoes. Of our great crop, a small 

 part is sent abroad. The North African states 

 send their surplus to European cities. 



"Yam" is a Southern name, applied locally to 

 some yellow-fleshed varieties of sweet potato. 

 "Potato" is the name used in the West Indies. 

 "Irish," or "white" potatoes, the true potato is 

 called to distinguish it. 



The true yam is a root tuber, like our sweet 

 potato in composition and mode of growth, but 

 belonging to an entirely different family. It 

 originated in China, and from there has been 

 introduced iiito Europe. It is hardy and whole- 

 some. Its fault seems to be that the tubers go 

 so deep that they are difficult to lift when mature. 

 They are not yet a market vegetable in the United 

 States, though a few amateurs grow them. 



