9 



performed as promptly as possible after the frost has left the ground and it has 

 become settled, and after planting no fears need be entertained as to any subse- 

 quent frosts or freezing, as the root or tuber when in the ground will withstand 

 any cold. No manure should come in contact with the roots or tubers at the 

 time of planting. The roots should be covered with about two inches of earth, 

 and the tubers with one inch. Early planting by extending the season has 

 proven so highly beneficial by the increase of the crop, that I think fall planting 

 will be eventually adopted as preferable, the winter freezing being no prevent- 

 ive, as it does not injure the roots. By a course of fall planting it is supposed 

 that the crop will be increased fully 20 per cent. It is found that the greatest 

 increase in the size of the roots takes place after the summer heat is passed, 

 and during the autumnal months, when the weather has become cooler, which 

 proves the great advantage of a prolonged season. It is therefore best to defer 

 digging the crop for winter use till the latest possible period. 



Wintering the Crop for Use. 



The crop desired for winter use can be ploughed out or dug out during the 

 autumn, at any time most convenient before the ground freezes. The stock of 

 roots may then be buried in suitable burrows, or be placed in a cellar ready for 

 daily family use. It is the usual practice to cut off the slender neck (upper 

 portion) of the root, and to place these aside for spring planting, and then to 

 store the main roots for use. These should be allowed to dry for some days 

 before being packed away for the winter. 



Present Prospects of Cultivators of this Yam. 



The number of persons who have hitherto devoted their attention to the cul- 

 ture of this Esculent has been very limited, but they are now rapidly increasing, 

 as the public attention seems greatly attracted to its importance, so that every 

 day purchases are made by amateurs, who will ardently engage in the culture 

 the coming season. And indeed, nothing can be more tempting in a lucrative 

 point of view, as there must for 3 or 4 years to come, be a most active demand 

 for all the surplus roots and tubers which the growers will spare. These will 

 be quickly purchased by the many who will be attracted by this new pursuit as 

 soon as the knowledge becomes general, and the present cultivators of the po- 

 tato, will, on account of its rot and other maledies, gradually abandon it as un- 

 reliable and unprofitable, and adopt the Yam on account of its hardihood, 

 the certainty of its crops, and its admirable properties. The potato, in past 

 time, has been called the poor man's bread, but with how much greater justice 

 may we give to the Chinese Yam this favorable appellation. 



Supersedure of the Potato in all Northern Climes, and through- 

 out our Northern, Eastern and Western States. 



The introduction of the Tropical Potato from the coast region of South 

 America, has led to a continual war against Nature in our endeavors to accli- 

 mate a tender plant, subject, at all times, to the maladies of a new location and 

 climate, and always destructible by frost to the plant, or by freezing to the root 

 itself. Grown under these adverse conditions, its culture could only be ex- 

 tended so far North as the length of the summer would permit, by a sufficiency 

 of time for the maturity of the root. The precarious culture of this plant has 

 been of late years so dubious and unreliable, subject to the rot and other diseases, 

 and to utter blight and decay, that the frequent results have been the destruction 

 of entire crops, at periodical returns, which has proven mostly calamitous to its 

 cultivators. Thus, a great scarcity has often resulted, with enhanced prices for 

 this hitherto indispensable article of food. 



This combination of untoward circumstances, so fatal to this plant, has caused 

 reflective minds to seek for an appropriate substitute. 



