Vol. XVII. No. 417. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



121 



occur commonly as weeds in Hawaii; of these the most 

 important appear to be the wild rattle-pods already 

 mentioned. These plants grow wild, and seem adapted to 

 nearlv every kind ot soil and climate occurring in Hawaii. 

 The chief objection to these wild rattle-pods is the woody 

 character of their stems. This woody character appears 

 bowever r,o be of advantage under Hawaiian conilitions, 

 since rapid decay is there undesirabh. Of the other 

 plants used in the experiment we may mention Indigo- 

 feraAnil, Fha«eoltis semierectas. and Miviosapadica, 

 as also growing wild in many islands of the West Indies. 



Yerba Mate. 



The dried leaf of Ile.i' paragmtyensis is the yerba 

 mate (herb of the woods) which when smoked, dried, 

 an<l cured is used by millions of South Americans to 

 liiake an infusion which is their staple drink. A cor- 

 respondent to The Times Trade Supplement for 

 TNIaich 1918, gives some interesting information as to 

 the use and value of this product. Yerba mate com- 

 bines the stimulating virtues of tea and coffee without 

 their ill effect upon the nerves. The tree grows thickly 

 in the forests of Southern Brazil and the adjoining 

 territories, the Paramv forest forming the chief source 

 cf the world's supply. The handsome, rather solid - 

 looking leaves are gathered from May to August, dried 

 on frames over fire, packed in bags, and sent to factorus 

 where they are milled and sieved, and divided into 

 orades according to the fineness of the scraps to which 

 the leaf is reduced. Thenc they are shipped, chiefly 

 to various countries of South America. South Brazil 

 exported in 1915 nearly 7(1,000 tons of yerba mate, 

 .58 000 tons of which went to Argentina. These wild ilex 

 forests are accordingly a source of great profit. It seems 

 there is some difficulty in raising plants from the seed 

 but successful experiments have been lately conducted 

 in Argentina with slips: and. to the alarm of the South 

 Brazifian exporters, the intention of developing plan- 

 tations of the tree in Argentina has been announced. 

 l:razil last year started energetic propaganda to 

 promote the use of the l^af in other parts of the world. 

 In the total amount exported from Brazil in 191o less 

 than 1,000 tons went to any other part of thr world 

 than the countries of South America. 



Forcing and Blanching ot Dasheen Shoots. 



Attention was drawn in the Agriculfiiral JS'ncs, 

 Vol XVI p 39S to this question as reported in, the 

 VearU'ol.- ' of the United States Department of Agri- 

 cultuiv 191(i. A pamphlet, issued by the Bureau of 

 Plant Industry of the same Department, has recently 

 been received at this Ottic-. giving full directions for 



this purpose. n i ■ .u 



To obtain the shoots, corms— usually called in the 

 We^t Indies 'heads —weighi-ng 2 to 3 lb. a piece are 

 „lant«l in a fairly warm place in very moist sand or 

 sandv ■<oil. A half-and-lnf mixture of sand and 

 ordiiiarv potting soil has |;iven good results. 1 he 

 corms are just covered. thL- terminal bud being at the 

 -urfftce Provision must ''<e made for keeping the 



shoots in total darkness from the time they begin to^ 

 grow. Water should be supplied often enough to keep 

 the soil continuallv moist. A co\ er, practically light 

 proof, and with sides 18 to 24 inches high, is required. 

 The first crop of shoots is usually ready for cutting 

 in thirty- five to forty days after planting. The shoots 

 are cut close to the conn, and, as far as practicable, 

 before the leaves begin to expand. They will then 

 usually be from 6 to 12 inches long. From six to ten 

 cuttings can be made at intervals of ten to fourteen 

 dayo, depending upon the attention paid, and the size 

 of the corms used. After the corms become exhausted, 

 which is indicated by the weak growth of the shoots, 

 they are discarded. This cultivation has been success- 

 fully undertaken in Florida out of doors, but it is very 

 essential that the shoots must not be exposed to light 

 for any considerable length of time at any stage of 

 their growth. 



Recipes for cooking the blanched shoots were 

 given in the Agricidiund Nevs already referred to. As 

 however dasheen shoots uncooked have a somewhat 

 acrid principle in them, they should never be tasted raw. 

 Lemon juice in a little water has been found effective 

 in relieving the irritation of mouth and throat when 

 raw shoots have been carelessly bitten. 



Capillary Watering of Plants. 



The following note under the above head in the 

 Wctdth of IndicCDecemheT 1917, appears of interest, 

 especially to growers of plants in plots. M. Lucien 

 Daniel describes the effects on garden plants of continu- 

 ous capillary watering in place of the intermittent 

 watering ordinarily employed in market gardening. 

 Vessels with a large surface filled with water are 

 placed near the plants, and the water is conveyed to 

 the bases of the plants by wicks of wool or cottt.n, which 

 serve as siphons. 'I'he amount of water thus supplied 

 to each plant is easily calculated, and can be 

 readily increased or reduced by altering the number 

 of threads. The advantages claimed for the process 

 are economy of water, no burning of leaves even 

 when carried out in full simshine, no washing out of 

 nutritive substances from the soil, and no caking of the 

 surface. In a series of tests with lettuce, chicory, and 

 cabbac-e, the capillary method produced much finer 

 plant,s°than other methods of watering. This method 

 was also .successfully applied to the geriiunatmg ot 

 seeds, and the subseipient watering of the seedlings, 

 plant's i)eing thus produced more rapidly th.in by 

 other methods. The author believes that it would be 

 possible to devise simple appliances for using capillary 

 watering on a commercial scale, 



A somewhat similar practice was in use some years 

 aero in the island of St. Croix in the Virgin Islands of 



iX^iJ 111 I'll*- ,^...-...- ^- .. ^ w , 



the United States, with respect t.^ grape vines. A 

 kerosene tin or other similar vessel had a small hole 

 pierced near the bottom; this was placed near the base 

 of the stem of the grape vine, and was kept contin- 

 uously supplied with w^ater. It was claimed that much 

 heavier crops n\ -re obtained by this continuous water- 

 iiio- tban by heavier periodic waterings. 



