50 AGRICULTURE IN THE TROPICS [PT. II 



forms by acclimatisation of good American kinds. In tropical 

 America this grain is very largely cultivated in different varie- 

 ties from sea-level to 7000 feet and even higher, yields two 

 crops a year, and a large return per acre. Cakes and bread 

 are made of the bruised or ground corn, the green cobs are 

 eaten, spirit is prepared from the corn, the young plants are 

 used for fodder, etc. It makes in fact one of the great staples 

 of the food of the population. 



A careful study of the capabilities of the different varieties, 

 and of their suitability to different districts, would well repay 

 itself, for there are very large areas suited to this crop, and 

 there should be a large export, as well as production for local 

 use. 



Ragi is grown in Madras on 1,500,000 acres, in Bombay on 

 800,000. Though a poor food, the straw is good fodder. 



In the East these grains are very popular as chena crops ; 

 in the West Indies they are grown as a minor food crop, but 

 rarely in large areas. In Africa they are also common and 

 might perhaps with advantage be more largely grown in South 

 America, etc. 



The dry grains being so important a part of the food supply 

 of the world, it is obvious that attention should be especially 

 devoted to them, with a view to making the cultivation more 

 efficient and remunerative. It is, however, difficult to do much 

 in this way, in dealing with the very poor people who mainly 

 cultivate these grains. 



The different varieties should be carefully tested against 

 one another in different districts, and a careful study should 

 also be made of the possible rotations or mixtures of crops. In 

 most of India these grains are as a matter of fact even now 

 sown mixed with pulses, etc. 



Other Food Crops. There are many other plants grown 

 in the tropics for food, and it would lead too far to go into 

 details with regard to them, but a brief account of the more 

 important of them will be given. 



Yams. Strictly speaking the name applies only to the 

 tubers of species of Dioscorea, but it is often applied to all 



