292 TROPICAL AGRICULTURE CHAP. 



employed by the old writers on these islands. The Jamai- 

 can name, cocoes, should certainly be discarded, inasmuch 

 as it is liable to be confused with cacao, coca, and cocoa-nut, 

 owing to its similarity of spelling and of sound. 



of e th" pliant ^ e plant producing the tania is a very handsome herba- 

 ceous one. It has only a short stem, and the large arrow- 

 shaped leaves are borne on long petioles or foot-stalks rising 

 from the ground. The tuberous rhizomes are sometimes as 

 much as six or seven inches in diameter, and they contain a 

 large proportion of starch which renders them very nourish- 

 ing food. They contain, also, an acrid substance which, 

 however, is dissipated by the heat of cooking. When boiled, 

 the tubers which are white internally, turn to a yellowish 



Food value colour. They are used as vegetables like potatoes, and they 

 make a most nutritious soup. An excellent starchy food, re- 

 sembling arrowroot, may also be obtained by grating the 

 tubers and washing out the starch in the manner described 

 in the section of this chapter relating to arrowroot. There 



Varieties. are two principal varieties of tanias, one with green stems 

 and leaves, and the other with purplish ones ; but the 



The value of tubers are identical in both kinds. The young leaves 



the leaves. 



are sometimes boiled and eaten as spinach, and the mature 

 leaves and stalks are excellent fodder for cattle, and food for 

 pigs. 



The best SOIL AND CLIMATE. The best soil is a sandy loam with 



an abundance of organic matter in it. The plant does not 

 do so well on clayey soils, and it does not thrive on pure 



Climate. sands. All warm climates are suitable for the growth of 

 Colocasias, and they bear great extremes of heat and mois- 

 ture within the tropics. They give the best returns when 

 there is abundance of moisture, but they also bear well in dry 

 situations. 



Propaga- CULTIVATION. The plants are propagated in the same 

 way as are yams. That is, when the crops are reaped, the 

 head of the tuberous rhizome is cut off and the leaves are 



