195 
when the leaf shoots first appear. When the plants have attain- 
ed their full height and the leaves begin to turn yellow, the roots 
are ready for digging. The stems do not attain the height, at 
least in the plains, that they do in Europe, and they very often 
produce flowers, which is rare in England, but apparently do not 
set seed. Tubers for replanting should be kept for three or four 
months in a dry place, before planting them again. Of two 
varieties brought out from England, one red and the other white, 
the red variety gradually died out, the white one being apparent- 
ly stronger and more productive. The tubers produced were ra- 
ther smaller than those produced in England, and diminished 
still more in the third year. 
Potatoes. 
It is useless to try to grow these in the plains, as, even if the 
plant does grow, it produces no tubers. In the hills, however, 
they are more satisfactory, and very fair new potatoes can be 
grown on Penang Hill. A layer of farm-yard manure may be 
placed in the trenches below the sets, which should be planted 
about nine inches apart and eighteen inches between the rows. 
As they grow, they require to be earthed up to prevent the tubers 
getting too near the surface of the ground, and, at the same 
time, a little guano or bone dust may be woiked in among the 
plants. 
Early varieties are the best, but ordinary kinds obtainable in 
the market give fair results. If planted about the end of 
October the) are ready for use in the middle of January. 
•i 
Sweet Potatoes, Keledi. 
Are the tubers of a convolvulus, Ipomea batatas . They are 
grown from tubers or portions of tubers planted in rows like po- 
tatoes. Sweet potatoes are one of the most extensively cultivat- 
ed vegetables among the Chinese, and are very prolific. Two va- 
rieties are commonly grown, a red, and a white kind. Of these 
the former is generally considered the better, but the local 
sweet potato is rather an interior class of vegetable, being inclin- 
ed to be hard and woody. Probably they would be much im- 
proved cy careful manuring, but the soil in Singapore seems to 
be too stiff and clayey for these vegetable to do well. The 
tubers are often attacked by a small slender weevil, the grub of 
which bores holes in them, and, when numerous, quite spoils 
them. It seems that the white variety is moi e liable to the 
attacks of this insect than the red one. 
Colus tuberoses. 
Is a small herb, with oval serrated bright green leaves, and 
blue flowers, often cultivated as an ornamental plant for carpet 
bedding, but also for its tubers, which resemble small potatoes 
about an inch or two inches long, with an aromatic flavour. 
The plant is grown from cuttings or tubers, and after about four 
months the tubers can be dug up. They are eaten either plain 
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