284 CHAPTER XVII 



leafy, with very fine stems, two to four feet in height. If 

 sown and cut early the aftermath will frequently give a very 

 good second cutting. The seed of the variety grown in the 

 Union is very small, dark reddish in colour. Because of its 

 quick growth it is drought evading, but teff cannot be looked 

 upon as a drought-resistant crop. It is essentially a hay crop, 

 to a limited extent a green-manuring crop (the aftermath if 

 not of sufficient grow^th to warrant its being mowed is often 

 ploughed down as green manure), and, being a short-lived and 

 shallow-rooted annual, is not a very suitable grass for pasturage. 

 As a hay crop it is extraordinarily easy to handle and cure. 

 The hay is very palatable and of a very fair nutritive value. 

 It has a protein-content of about 5'5 per cent., being a little 

 higher than that contained in Boer manna, very similar to oat 

 hay, but infeiior to lucerne. The grain contains less protein 

 (8"2 per cent.) than the soft wheats (10 per cent.), but in other 

 constituents it is very similar to wheat grain. The weight of 

 seed is 60 to 72 pounds per bushel. 



Climate. — Being a summer annual, it is best suited to 

 parts having a summer rainfall. Because of its quick maturity, 

 which enables it to mature often on the soil moisture stored by 

 one or two good soaking rains, it can be grown successfully in 

 comparatively dry regions. In parts having a very heavy rain- 

 fall — 40 to 50 inches — it frequently lodges badly and is some- 

 what difficult to harvest and cure. Its yields are not sufficiently 

 high to warrant its cultivation under ordinary irrigation. 



It is particularly suited to the Highveld of the Transvaal 

 and Free State, as well as the higher altitudes of Natal, e.g., 

 Mooi River. It is not suited to the Western Province or 

 Namaqualand, but does fairly well in parts of the Eastern 

 Province, Western Transvaal, and in some localities of the 

 Transvaal Bushveld. 



Soils. — Teff does well on moist soils and, unlike many of 

 the other cultivated grasses, will give good yields on sandy 

 soils. On very rich soils it has a tendency to lodge badly. The 

 seedling is of very delicate growth, and the crust formed by 

 beating rains on some clay soils on drying out often prevents 

 the shoots from reaching the surface. 



It is a shallow-rooted crop ; consequently, if grown con- 

 tinuously on the same land, it soon exhausts the plant food 

 in the upper surface. For this reason, it has been erroneously 

 described as an exhaustive crop on soils. 



