1915 
rector of Agriculture. '"Barbados Red.' There are two varieties of 
this red yam, one darker than the other, and I am forwarding tubers of 
the darker one." (Bovell.) 
"These tubers of the darker strain of the Barbados Red yam weigh 
from l£ to Z pounds each and are club shaped. The inner skin is deep 
purple and, except near the tip of the tuber, where it is pale purple, 
the flesh is moderately deep purple with scattered fibers of deeper 
color. This yam cooks mealy and rather dry and is of very good flavor. 
The color fades somewhat during cooking, leaving the yam an attractive 
light reddish purple." (R. A. Young.) 
dioscorea sp. (Dioscoreaceae) , 57699. Yam. From Oneroa, Mangaia 
Island, Cook Islands. Tubers presented by Geoffrey Henry. '"Maararau. ' 
Plant the same as ordinary yams; prepare the soil and put the tubers 
1 or 2 inches underground." (Henry.) 
"The rather small tubers received are more or less globose, have 
a slightly pink inner skin, and white flesh. The quality of this yam 
when cooked is very good." (R. A. Young.) 
diospyros KAKi (Diospyraceae) , 57733. Kaki. From Ichang, China. 
Seeds presented by Rev. A. S. Cooper, American Church Mission. "Col- 
lected on the mountains back of Patung, Hupeh, China, at an altitude 
of 6,000 to 8,000 feet." (Cooper.) 
"With the rapid extension of persimmon culture which has taken 
place in Florida and particularly in California, has come the need of 
better stock plants; Diospyros lotus, which has been used for this purpose, 
is proving unsatisfactory because of its short life and its suscepti- 
bility to the root-knot nematode. Inquiries sent, by this Office to 
horticulturists in Japan and China elicited the information that wild 
or semiwild forms of B. kahi are considered preferable, in those regions, 
to D. lotus as rootstocks for the cultivated kakis. Two or three semi- 
wild forms from Japan, recommended as suitable for stocks, have recent- 
ly been introduced. 
"E. H. Wilson, of the Arnold Arboretum, who has conducted exten- 
sive explorations in China, made the recommendation that seeds of the 
true wild D.AaM be obtained from the region of Ichang, China, where 
the species is indigenous. It was his opinion that the wild form, be- 
cause of its vigor, should be more promising as a stock plant than any 
of the cultivated or semicultivated forms. 
"Herbarium specimens collected by Mr. Wilson near Ichang show the 
wild form to be closely similar to the cultivated kakis in habit of 
growth and in foliage, but to differ in the much smaller size of the 
fruit. The latter is shaped like an acorn, and scarcely over an inch 
in length. The behavior of the plants grown from these seeds forward- 
ed by Father Cooper, who has collected them while on one of his excur- 
