626 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



right; and yet the one I wish to give you may go a 

 little further toward reducing the high cobt of 

 living; besides, it is always on hand on the farm 

 whenever wanted. It is as follows. Take an old 

 bucket and fill it about one-fourth full of frr-.sh cow 

 manure. Fill with water, and stir. Apply direct to 

 the plants. I generally applj- by means of a bunch 

 of tall weeds, which I take by the root ends, immerse 

 the tops in the decoction, and shake over e:icli liill. 

 I have used nothing else for the last ten or fifteen 

 years, and it has never failed to do Iho work to 

 perfection. It is the smell that drives the bugs away. 



As to Vice-president Marshall's hoe-cake to which 

 you refer on another page, I think it is nothing 

 more nor less than our corn bread, sometimes called 

 hoe-cake from the fact that in earlier days the 

 Southerners made a batter or doatjli, the main in- 

 gredient of which was Indian meal, which was 

 spread on a hoe or similar instrunent, aad laid on 

 an open fire to bake. This was called hoe-cake. 



Berne, Ind., July 6. M. Brenn".man. 



Perhaps some of tke friends may com- 

 plain that our good friend Brenneman and 

 myself are getting different things into 

 rather close proximity; but you can stop a 

 little and take breath after reading about the 

 remedies for squash-bugs before yoti tackle 

 hoe-cake. Yes, the remedy proposed will do 

 the business. I have heard of it before, but 

 had forgotten it. The only objection that 

 we know of is that it is a rather disagree- 

 able operation; but from the fact that it 

 gives the squashes a fertilizer — that is, if 

 you give them a good dose of the concoc- 

 tion, and at the same time it drives the bugs 

 away — I think we can extend a vote of 

 thanks to our good fiiend. Now for the 

 other matter. 



Yeiy likely it is " corn bread " that Vice- 

 president Marshall eats every day of his 

 life. But where does he get it? Is such 

 corn bread kept for sale by the bakers? If 

 so, I have not seen it, and I generally make 

 friends with the bakers wherever I am, and 

 look over their stocks, especially the goods 

 they furnish to " reduce the high cost of 

 living." Can not somebody furnish us a 

 recipe for making such bread as Vice-jDresi- 

 dent Marshall eats "every day"? Corn 

 meal is as cheap as common flour, and per- 

 haps cheaper. Will friend B. kindly tell 

 us how to make good wholesome bread out 

 of golden corn? 



THE DASHEEN, AND THE WORLD-WIDE DISTKI- 

 BUTION OF FOOD PLANTS RELATED TO IT. 



The following, from our good friend Dr. 

 E. F. Pliillips. of the Bureau of Entomol- 

 ogy, Washington, explains itself: 



United States Department of Agriculture. 

 Washington, D. C, July 29. 

 My Dear Mr. Root .- — I am enclosing two quota- 

 tions from Cook and Collins' Economic Plants of 

 Porto Rico on " yautias," the Porto Kican name of 

 the dasheen. 



I saw a dasheen growing in a store ■window here 

 today. Sincerely yours, 



E. F. PHiLLirs, 

 In Chai-ge Bee Culture Investigations. 



P. S. — Bulletin 6 of the Porto Rico Agricultural 

 Experiment Station (Mayaguez, P. R.) is on yautias, 

 or tauiers, of Porto Rico. I think the Hawaiian 

 station (Honolulu) also has one on taros as they 

 are called there. E. F. P. 



1903. Economic Plants of Porto Rico. U. S. Na- 

 tional Herbarium. Vol. III., part 2, p. 264. 

 Xanthosoma. I'autia. 



Family Araceae. — In Porto Rico there are four 

 kinds of taros, or "yautias," as they are there call- 

 ed. Three of them are species of Xanthosoma, a 

 genus of aroids closely related to Colocasia, but hav- 

 ing the leaves hastate — that is, the basal lobes are 

 not connected behind the insertion of the stalk, as 

 in Colocasia. The species of Xanthosoma are recog- 

 ■nized as distinctively West Indian, and were culti- 

 vated by the Caribs when the Spaniards arrived; 

 but, curiously enough, the taro is the only one which 

 has retained a thoroughly native name. The Xan- 

 thosomas are known, respectively, as " yautia blan- 

 ca," "yautia amarilla," and "yautia palma," while 

 the taro is called " yautia malanga." 

 Colocasia esculenta. Taro. Yauti malanga. Bleed- 

 ing heart. 



Family Araceae; the "taro" of Polynesia. Else- 

 where about the Caribbean Sea the same plant has 

 a most confusing variety of native names — •" coco " 

 in ^Jamaica; " eddo " in Barbados; " tannia " in 

 Trinidad; " taya " in the French Islands; " oto " on 

 the Isthmus of Panama, and " tisquisquis " Nica- 

 ragua. European travelers and residents are com- 

 monly not aware of the diiferences between these 

 closely similar plants, and generally apply these 

 names indiscriminately to both Colocasia and Xan- 

 thosoma, and some botanists have even failed to ap- 

 preciate the diiferences. 



The species of Colocasia can be distinguished from 

 those of Xanthosoma by the peltate leaves. 



Mr. W. M. Armstrong, of Honolulu, states that 

 he found the Porto Rican taro, or yautia, invaria! ly 

 inferior to the Hawaiian, the introduction of which 

 he considers would be an important service for the 

 agricultural population of Porto Rico. Stock should 

 be secured from Hilo through the experiment-station 

 authorities. 



Mr. Armstrong also states that the Hawaiian tare 

 has been found superior to that of Fiji and Samoa 

 by Mr. Alexander, who has investigated the subject. 

 Its wholesome and delicate quality recommend it to 

 resident Americans, and many who have returned to 

 California now import taro for household use. 



Recently the Chinese have taken to raising an- 

 other variety of taro, or taro-like plant, in Califor- 

 nia, particularly at Bakersfield. This is said to fco 

 propagated from tuberous lateral shoots, not like the 

 taro in which the leafy cut-off ends are planted. 

 Chinese taro is also imported to California from 

 Canton and Hongkong. 'This is by some thought to 

 be somewhat inferior to the Hawaiian, but the differ- 

 ence is not great. 



Our readers will notice that the quota- 

 tions are from a book put out in 1903; and 

 probably considerable progress has been 

 made in disseminating this vegetable, espe- 

 eiall}- in California. If any of our readers 

 can give us any additional information we 

 should be glad to get it. 



You will notice the statement that all of 

 these plants are closely related to Colocasia; 

 and when foliage plants were my hobby 

 some years ago the varieties of Colocasia, 

 especially the variegated ones, were an end- 

 less source of pleasure to me. But I did not 

 succeed in making them grow, especially 

 outdoors, as I am now succeeding with the 

 dasheen. 



