1560 
market, quite often the entire hill is dug and the tu- 
ber sold. The size of the tubers varies greatly; as 
commonly seen in the markets they are 1 or 2 inches 
in diameter, and 10 to 18 inches long; but the largest 
of them are 4 to 5 inches in diameter and up to 2| feet 
long. In answer to my question, 'Which is best, the 
fruit or the tuber?', most natives have replied that 
they preferred the tuber. But since the latter is a- 
vallable in relatively small quantity, it does not 
play so important a role, by any means , in the dietary 
of the Indians as the fruit itself. It is customary 
to eat the tuber boiled, as a part of the favorite dish 
'cocido' (boiled meat and vegetables of several kinds, 
served together ); or fried in batter, oftenwith a thin 
tomato sauce which is added after cooking. The tuber, 
when well cooked, Is fairly mealy in texture, but not 
so well flavored as a good potato, and to my own taste 
is not preferable to a good mealy chayote. 
Varieties . 
"'A good mealy chayote' brings up the question of 
varieties , which I am convlnced .is one of the most im- 
portant in connection with chayote culture, and one 
to which we have not as yet devoted sufficient atten- 
tion In the United States. r 
"Unquestionably there are Important differences 
in the flavor and quality of the different varieties 
cultivated lnGuatemala, differences almost sufficiently 
marked to condemn the chayote as a poor vegetable or 
to characterize it as an excellent thing, according as 
one samples a really good sort or one of the poorer ones. 
"For some time I thought that green-f ruited vari- 
eties were better flavored than the white ones, but I 
have now come to believe that there are good and in- 
ferior varieties of both colors, just as there are good 
avocados of purple color and good ones that are green. 
Perhaps it is true, as various natives have asserted 
to me, that the dark green chayotes are usually. the best . 
I am inclined to think it is. But the very best vari- 
ety which has yet come under my observation is the 
'guisquil de papa, ' (potato chayote) of certain gardens 
in Antigua. This is a broadly obovold fruit about 4 
inches In length, plump, perfectly smooth on the sur- 
face (though with brownish cracks when fully ripe), 
and of an Ivory-white color, almost opaque in char- 
acter. This variety has an unusually mealy character 
and is much better in flavor than most others. It is, 
