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- Author or Editor: Franklin W. Martin x
Abstract
Sweetpotato cultivars both as males and as females were classified into groups of related individuals on the basis of an index of similarity (correlation coefficients based on pollen tubes per stigma data). By gradually lowering the criterion of similarity the majority of the varieties were classified into one large group. At no stage of the process were inter-compatible, intra-incompatible groups found. A few cultivars, either as male or female, did not fit into the large group, and were also not clearly related to each other. Thus, this technique, as well as previous techniques, demonstrates the difficulty of incompatibility classification in sweetpotato, and the resultant lack of predictability of crossing ability.
Abstract
To most North American horticulturists, tropical horticulture is an “exotic” science. Familiar concepts such as length of growing season, degree of hardiness, winter dormancy, and critical day length are inappropriately applied to many tropical situations. Ignorance of tropical agriculture may lead one to believe that very little research has been done in tropical crops. A missionary attitude may prevail: We ought to send some of our horticulturists down there to show them how. These attitudes and beliefs are inappropriate in an age when American “know-how” is being widely exported.
Abstract
The typical sweet potato is not necessarily sweet before cooking. It contains 4-20% nonreducing sugar, chiefly sucrose, and 1-10% reducing sugars, principally fructose, on a dry weight basis (5). During cooking, part of the starch is hydrolyzed to maltose and dextrins by β amylase (2). The sucrose content, on the other hand, is not affected by cooking, except that boiling may remove part of it.
Abstract
Callousing and rooting occur rapidly when young but nearly full-sized leaves of sweet potato [Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam.] are planted in sterile sand, covered with a transparent chamber, and partially shaded. Rooted leaves show unusual growth phenomena including leaf enlargement, petiole swelling, and storage roots which may sprout and generate normal plants.
Abstract
Diversity. It’s the quality that brings zest to life.
Abstract
What has happened in the field of agriculture in the United States during the last 50 years is unprecedented, unbelievable, spectacular, and commendable. During this period naturally good soils, favorable weather, development of varieties and techniques, and the massive use of energy have made North American farming the most productive ever known. Because of the rich yields obtained, the United States can be called the bread basket of the world, the sure source of abundance.
Abstract
The fertility of 6 successive generations of open pollinated sweetpotatoes was studied in each of 4 months. Breeding by open pollination increased the percentages of plants in flower, the number of flowers per plant, and total seed production. Both capsule and seed numbers per flower were higher in the first and last generations than in intervening generations. Self-compatibility, when determined by numbers of pollen tubes per stigma, was not affected by the breeding procedure. Mean numbers of pollen tubes per flower following cross pollination were higher in the later generations. Month to month effects were important in the case of all measurements. Flowering was most profuse in the middle of the season; seed set was highest early in the season; and pollen germination after selfing or crossing was highest at the beginning and end of the season.
Abstract
Yams (Dioscorea spp.) contained from 6.3 to 13.4% crude protein, as measured by the Kjeldahl N technique. In the cv. Morado protein content tended to be highest in upper or inner (oldest) portions of the tuber. The peel, while rich in protein, is a minor part of the total wt. Tubers of ‘Morado’, varied significantly from 6.7 to 9.8% crude protein. Yams appear to contain sufficient quantities of protein to merit nutritional considerations.
Abstract
The troptophan content was determined in 29 cultivars of tropical root and tuber crops: (Manihot esculenta Crantz, Dioscorea alata L., D. rotundata Poir., D. esculenta Burkill, D. bulbifera L., D. trifida L., Ipomea batatas L., Xanthosoma sagittifolium L. Schott, Colocasia esculenta L. Schott, Canna edulis Ker., Maranta arundinacea L., and Calathea allouia Lindl.) They contained 0.1 to 1.1 g tryptophan per 100 g protein and were below the FAO reference protein. Sufficient diversity existed between cultivars for troptophan per g of dried tissue to recommend further trials with D. alata cv. Florido, D. esculenta cv. Spindle, X. sagittifolium cv. Aguadillana and Colocasia esculenta cv. Martin. These contained 50% to 79% as much tryptophan as the FAO reference protein and have excellent cooking qualities.
Abstract
Treatment of aerial tubers and underground tuber pieces of Dioscorea alata L. the 10-month yam, with about 1250 rads of gamma irradiation stimulated tuber germination, vegetative growth, and tuber yield. Higher dosages reduced viability and yields. When different parts of the tuber were irradiated, a slight yield stimulation occurred when the developing shoot was treated, but treatment of parts of the tuber reduced yield. Effects of irradiation disappeared entirely in the second vegetative generation after irradiation.