1569 
"In another trial, a few plants proved to be gross 
feeders without Injury to the "tuber, and without any 
apparent difference In flavor. In the growing season 
they were watered occasionally with liquid manure , and 
in January given a dressing of blood and bone. They 
also had copious supplies of water. 
"A further use of the dasheen is in the forcing 
and blanching of its shoots. A trial was given by 
planting three corms weighing 2 pounds each, kept dor- 
mant till December in white sand mixed with a little 
sphagnum moss in open ground, and over these was placed 
a 1-2 -inch drain pipe wltha bag on the top. The heat con- 
served in the pipe must have been near 100° P. Shoots 
6 inches long were cut in twenty-seven days, and at 
intervals of growth. The shoots were cooked and eaten, 
and proved all that was recommended. 
"The plant Is decorative, is easily grown, and 
would make an excellent vegetable in districts where 
only one orop of potatoes can be grown in a year. It 
is a fine-flavored variety of the taro, eats with a 
nutty flavor, is very mealy and has more robust foliage 
than the common taro. 
Yam Culture in the Wert Indies. 
In'a note to the Proceedings of the Agricultural 
Society of Trinidad and Tobago, February, 1920, Mr. H. 
H. korton, writes as follows: 
"I dug my last yam {Dioscorea 8p. ) of the 1919 crop 
on the second of February. From a space measuring 37 
square rods 4,051 pounds were dug, of which 1,440 pounds 
are very fine Chinese, or 'potato,' yams. My largest 
'Lisbon' weighed 31 pounds net. From experience I find 
that planting in trenches is more prof I table than other 
methods. Bach morning a grass-cart load of stable 
stuff is unloaded into the trenches for the next crop. 
It is also found that planting 2\ feet apart pays better 
than 3 feet; Intensive cultivation, and weeding the 
banks regularly once a month, from May to October, 
are very worth while. Seed selection is also most im- 
portant. Yams planted near trees, or that get shade of 
any kind* give very poor results. Yams keep very well 
for one year. When shoots appear early inMarch, April, 
and May, break of f carefully . The longer yams are kept 
the more mellow they get, and are at their best by 
October or November. Chinese yams, when well cooked, 
boiled, roasted, etc., are as fine as the bes t ordinary 
northern potato, and better than potatoes that have 
been imported here." 
