56 SELECT PLANTS FOR INDUSTRIAL CULTURE 



Canna coccinea, Roscoe. 



West India. Yields with some other Cannas the particular 

 arrowroot called Tous Les Mois. 



Canna edulis, Edwards. 



The Adeira of Peru. One of the hardiest of arrowroot 

 plants. Seeds, even if many years old, will germinate. This 

 species has yielded excellent starch at Melbourne, Western 

 Port, Lake Wellington, Ballarat, and other localities, from 

 plants supplied at the Botanic Garden of Melbourne. The 

 Rev. Mr. Hagenauer, of the Gippsland Aboriginal Mission 

 station, obtained 220 Ibs. of arrowroot from one-eighth of 

 an acre of this Canna. The gathering of the roots is effected 

 about April. The plants can be set out in ordinary ploughed 

 land. Captain James Hall, of Hastings, prepared also largely 

 the starch from this root. Starch grains remarkably large. 

 The plant resembles a Banana in miniature, hence eligible 

 for scenic plantations ; the local production in Gippsland is 

 already large enough to admit of exportation. 



Canna flaccida, Roscoe. 



Carolina. Probably also available for arrowroot, though in the 

 first instance, like many congeners, chosen only for ornamental 

 culture. 



Canna glauca, Linne. 



One of the West Indian Arrowroot Cannas. 



Cannabis sativa, Linne. 



The Hemp Plant ; indigenous to various parts of Asia, as far 

 west as Turkey and as far east as Japan. Cultivated for its 

 fibre since ancient times. Particularly in hot climes it exudes 

 the churras, a resinous substance of narcotic intoxicating 

 property. The foliage contains also a volatile oil, while the 

 seeds yield by pressure the well-known fixed hemp oil. The 

 staminiferous plant is pulled for obtaining the fibre in its best 

 state immediately after flowering ; the seeding plant is gather- 

 ed for fibre at a later stage of growth. Good soil, well 

 drained, never absolutely dry, is needed for successful hemp 

 culture. Hemp is one of the plants yielding a full and quick 

 return within the season. The summer temperatures of St. 

 Petersburg (67 F.) and of Moscow (62 F.) admit of the 

 cultivation of this plant. The hemp as a narcotic plant 

 serves as a protection against insects on cultural fields, if sown 

 along their boundaries. 



