CULTIVATION OF THE TRUE YAMS. 9 
on slat shelves or in trays with slat bottoms. The best results have 
been obtained by having the tubers only one layer deep. Good venti- 
lation, day and night, is essential to the successful storage of yams. 
The most favorable storage temperature after proper curing is be- 
tween 55° and 60° F. Temperature is of secondary importance. 
however, and except when it falls to near the freezing point may be 
disregarded in favor of free ventilation. Under the conditions de- 
scribed, varieties of the greater yam have kept perfectly for several 
months at the Brooksvilk Plant Introduction Garden. 
SHIPPING. 
Yams for shipment should be packed in well-ventilated barrels or 
crates, with straw or similar material around each tuber to prevent 
bruising. When very cold weather is likely to be encountered the 
ventilation should be somewhat reduced. The less the ventilation 
to be given, however, the greater the need for the thorough curing of 
the yams previous to shipping. It is exceedingly important to avoid 
including in a container any tuber having a fresh bruise or other 
injury. Burlap covers for barrels, if strong and securely held under 
the top hoop, are quite sufficient in all ordinary shipments and have 
the advantage over solid heads of permitting better ventilation. 
Because of the value of the yam crowns for propagation and the 
fact that they are discarded in the preparation of the tubers for the 
table, it will often pay the grower to cut off the crowns and store 
them until planting time. It is important, however, that the yams be 
well cured before they are cut. The cut surfaces should always be 
dried at once in sunlight, in order to reduce the chances of decay 
both of the main tuber and the crown. Dusting these surfaces with 
air-slaked lime or with fine wood ashes before drying is practiced by 
some yam growers in the Tropics, and the use of lime has been tried 
with some success on a small scale in Florida. 
Occasionally yam tubers are too much lobed or branched to make 
it practicable to ship them entire. The market is not unaccustomed 
to cut tubers, however, and many of these irregular ones can be cut 
into pieces and shipped satisfactorily provided the yams are well 
cured and the raw surfaces properly dried or otherwise treated to 
prevent decay in transit. Growers should have an understanding 
beforehand with buyers of yams if they contemplate shipping yams 
with crowns removed or the tubers otherwise divided, in order to 
avoid possible dissatisfaction. 
INSECT AND FUNGOUS ENEMIES. 
Xo fungous disease, other than some of the common storage rots. 
has as yet made its appearance among true yams grown in the South, 
nor have any injurious insects been observed to attack the crop. 
However, as was stated in the beginning of this paper, yams in other 
countries are subject to attack from certain insect pests of the 
sweet potato, one of which, a sweet-potato weevil (Oylas formacarku 
Fab.), is already present in many sweet-potato localities in the 
South. The larvae of these insects feed on the inside of the yam 
tubers and destroy them or ruin them for use. For a full discussion 
of the sweet-potato weevil, including suggestions for combating it. 
persons interested are referred to Fanners' Bulletin No. 1020. 
