rm kernel, about as
large as a Spanish nut, and from this a fine fibrous root descends
into the soil. It is known in Van Diemen's Land, and other parts of
Australia, by the common name of native bread. Captain Hunter, in his
Journal of the Transactions at Port Jackson on the first settlement of
the Convict Colony, speaks of finding large quantities of "wild yams,"
on which the natives fed, but the roots were not bigger than a walnut;
therefore it was probably this plant.

_Arracacha esculenta_, of Bancroft and Decandolle (_Conium
Arracacha_).--This perennial herb is a native of South America, which,
from its salubrious qualities, is extensively cultivated in the
mountains of Venezuela and other parts of tropical and Southern
America, for culinary purposes. It is propagated by planting pieces of
the tuberous root, in each of which is an eye or shoot. The late Baron
de Shack introduced it into Trinidad, from Caraccas, and it has thence
been carried to the island of Grenada. It throve there remarkably
well, but has been unaccountably neglected. He also sent roots of this
valuable plant to London, Liverpool, and Glasgow. Although it bears
cold better than the potato, it requires a warmer and more equal
temperature than most of the countries of Europe afford. It would,
however, make an excellent addition to the culinary vegetables of many
tropical countries, uniting the taste of the potato and parsnip, but
being superior to both.

The arracacha has been introduced into the South of Europe, not as a
substitute for, but as a provision against a failure of the potato
crop. It is highly recommended by the Rev. J.M. Wilson, in the "Rural
Encyclopaedia."

Stevenson ("Travels in South America," vol. ii., p. 383) says the
yucas (cassava), camotes (sweet potatoes), and yams cultivated at
Esmeraldas and that neighbourhood, were the finest he ever saw. "It is
not uncommon for one of these roots to weigh upwards of twenty pounds.
At one place I saw a few plants of the yuca that had stood upwards of
twenty years, the owner having frequently bared the bottom of the
plants and taken the ripe roots, after which, throwing up the earth
again, and allowing a sufficient time for new roots to grow, a
continual succession of this excellent nutritious food was procured."

The Aipi grows in Brazil, and according to T. Ashe, may be eaten raw,
and, when pressed, yields a pleasant juice for drink; or being
inspissated by the heat of the sun, is k