INDUSTRIAL AND DOMESTIC USES 



s it was found that the edible seed after the removal of the hard and 

 shining grey husk did not weigh more than one for every four parts by 



iit of the whole grain operated upon." In the Kew Bulletin (1888, 



is puMislird Church's second examination and this a speciim-n, 



Admittedly, of the cultivated grain. "From four parts by wt-L'lit. of tin: 



pie," he says, " three parts of husked grain were obtained three times 

 tin- quantity yielded by ('. L<icrf/nni " (presumably the comparison 

 drawn is to the sample reported on in the Food-Grains, which I have 

 n'd may have been a wild grain). Subsequently Church gave 

 his third analysis in the Supplement to the Food-Grains (1901, 3), the 

 irruiu examined having been cultivated coix of the Khasia hills. The 

 following sets forth the practical results of the first and third of these 



uinations : 



COIX 



Trade 



Commenting on his final results, Church says that the quantity of 

 juminoids approaches to that of some kinds of pulse, and that the 

 jportion of oil or fat is larger than that present in the great majority of 

 reals. In The Agricultural Ledger will be found the chemical results 

 jtained by several other investigators. 



Industrial and Domestic Uses. From a remote antiquity both in Europe and 

 India, the grains or seeds, especially of the wild plant, have been used as the 

 of rosaries. By the aboriginal tribes of India and Burma they are em- 

 jyed in personal adornment. Necklaces, earrings, head-dresses, etc., are often 

 ely composed of them, and dresses, bags, baskets, etc., extensively orna- 

 ited with them. For these purposes a semi-cultivation has been pursued, 

 sibly for centuries, that has resulted in the development of special grams, in 

 .linilric.il or spheroidal forms, and in a rich variety of colours. In Nepal, Oudh, 

 among the hill-tribes of the central tableland of India generally, they are 

 iployed either by themselves or in conjunction with cowrie-shells in the de- 

 ition of baskets, agricultural implements and cattle. By the Karens of 

 the cylindrical grains cover certain portions of dress, and are elaborated 

 designs that simulate (or perhaps may have suggested) some of the patterns 

 an in embroidery. With the Angami Nagas, earrings are constructed that 

 sist of a rosette of the elongated seeds surrounding the metallic green 



-cases of a beetle. 



TRADE. The possibility of a profitable expansion of the industrial uses of 

 i seeds to a large extent suggested the inquiry, the practical results of which 

 ive already been set forth. A fairly large trade exists in the seeds, and they 

 used in the construction of Japanese bead door-curtains. An exceptionally 

 rge kind a form of <. / was discovered by me in Poona, utilised in 

 construction of such curtains. It seems probable that '. u*a **" and 

 niHiitii'ii, together with some of the larger forms of ntuitiitfet; are most 

 tely to be worked up in that manner. But in discussing possible future in- 

 strial developments it is essential that the separation indicated into the forms 

 <. t.a / i n -j obi that are cultivated and those that are wild should be 

 rly kept in mind. Cultivation destroys very rapidly the hard pearly shell, 

 which to a very large extent the industrial demand depends. It also 

 igos the colour of the grain and produces dull chalky whites and straw- 

 olours, utterly devoid of the rich glossiness of the wild grains. By the selection 

 and partial cultivation of spontaneous varietal forms or sports (such as those 

 named */<!!<<( r/< and n*ii/i/--) these dangers are ever present. This fact 

 is fully appreciated by the Burmese experts, and the cultivation, partial though 

 it bo, is abandoned for a time or fresh stock secured from the jungles, when re- 

 gression has been observed. It is thus difficult, if not impossible, to guarantee 

 a continuous supply of any one shape, size, or colour of grain, and this may at 

 oiicu be admitted as (from the European point of view) a serious obstacle to a 



397 



Rich in 



Albuminoids. 



Industrial. 



Beads. 



AinMiui 



Trade. 



Curtains. 



Changes with 

 Cultivation. 



Continuous 

 Supply. 



