weu. Kotahi putu, nuku atu ranei, te mamao o nga tipu tetahi i tetahi. Ki te tutata rawa kaore e kitea e te ra. Ka tahoro ki te wai ka tapuke. Mehemea i purungia ki ro paruparu, kaore noaiho e tahorohorongia ki te wai. Kauaka e tahorohia te wai ki runga i nga rau mehemea he rangi tino wera. Ko te take hoki ka whakaetongia e te ra te wai i runga i nga rau, a ka maroke te tipu. Ehara i te mea ma nga rau e whangai te tipu, engari ma nga pakiaka ke. No reira e tahorongia ai te wai ki runga i te oneone, ki raro i nga rau, kia heke ai te wai ki nga weu whangai o te tipu. Toro ai te nuinga o te tangata i nga putake ki te urunga o te ra, no te mea he pirangi te kumara ki te ra. Tetahi, ka mohiotia kei tewhea taha nga kumara, ka ngawari te ngaki me te hauhake. Kaore e tapahia nga kumara. MO TE NGAKI: Ka ngakingia nga tarutaru e rua wiki ki te wha wiki i muri iho pea i te onotanga o nga tipu. Ko etahi tangata kua waia nei ki enei mahi, ka pai ki a ratou te tipitipi i a ratou tipu kia timata i te uwhi, kia haere tohitu nga tutira. Ko te mea ke kia ata mahi, kei motu nga kumara i te tipitipi. He mahi ngawari tonu te ngaki kumara, mehemea ma te hoiho, ma te mihini ranei, e karawhaea a waenganui o nga rarangi. KO TE WHAKATIKATIKA I TE WHENUA MO TE ONO KUMARA: Ko te mea tuatahi he titiro he wahi pai mo te mahinga. Kaore e pai ki nga wahi parakiwai, ki nga wahi parahua ranei. No te mea kaore te kumara e tipu i nga wahi makuku, a ki nga whenua momona rawa hoki. Ko nga wahi pai ko era e rite tonu ana i te onotia ana ki te kumara. He tino pai nga wahi ahua kirikiri. E wha nga mea hei mahitanga i mua i te onotanga i te kumara. each other. If they are too close together they will not get enough sun. Water is poured on and then they are covered. If they are put into mud-pudding there is no need to water them. Water must not be poured on the leaves if planting is being done on a hot day. The reason is that the sun will evaporate the water on the leaves, causing the plant to wither. It is not the leaves that feed the plant, but the roots. That is why the water is poured on the soil under the leaves, so that it soaks to the roots which feed the plant. People face the roots of their plants towards the east, where the sun rises, if using the “T” method, because the kumara is a sun loving plant. Another reason is that the person who is weeding and digging the garden will know on which side the young kumara are. The garden is weeded about two to four weeks after planting. A person who is a skilled cropped likes to lift the runners when they have started to spread, so that the sun may reach the kumara which are starting to develop. The thing is to work carefully, or else the kumara will be injured. Kumara weeding is quite an easy job if horse or tractor implements are used for inter-tillage between rows. MODERN KUMARA CULTIVATED IN WAIAPU The first thing to do is to look for the right site for the garden. It is of no use planting the kumara in a damp or hilly area, nor in an alluvial soil. Kumara will not grow successfully in damp and in very rich soil. Sandy areas are the best places for planting. There are four things to do in preparation of the kumara garden.