50 AGRICULTURE IN THE TROPICS [PT. II 



the Indian forms by acclimatisation of good American kinds. 

 In tropical America this grain is very largely cultivated, 

 especially in the mountains from Mexico to Peru, and in 

 various forms makes up one of the great staples of the food of 

 the population. In Venezuela and other countries of tropical 

 America it is cultivated in different varieties 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. 



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

 800,000. It yields but a poor food, but the straw is good 

 fodder. 



In Ceylon these grains are very popular as chena crops, and 

 the land is of course abandoned between crops, and rotation 

 should prove of much benefit. In the West Indies they are 

 grown as a minor food crop, but, so far as we are aware, only 

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



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 

 tubers, even potatoes being known as yams in Ceylon. The four 

 best of the many Dioscoreas used are usually supposed to be 



