284 



TROPICAL AGRICULTURE 



CHAP. 



The plant is a very ornamental one, and, for that reason, 

 is cultivated in English hot-houses. The seeds are round, 

 hard and black, and it is said that they have been used by 

 the natives of India as shot, and hence the name " Indian 

 shot," which is sometimes applied to Cannas generally. 

 Tous-les-mois is very soluble in boiling water ; and, on this 

 account, and because of the large starch granules composing 

 it, medical men recommend it as one of the best starchy 

 foods for children and invalids. 



The plant is propagated by division of the underground 

 stem, or by seeds which will germinate after being kept for 

 many years. The land is ploughed up and prepared in the 

 usual way, and the sets are planted a few inches under the 

 Cultivation, ground in rows three feet distance each way. The cultiva- 

 tion of the plant is similar in every respect to that of ordinary 

 arrowroot, and the starch is prepared in the same way as 

 the arrowroot starch, which has been fully described in the 

 preceding section of this chapter 



Useful 

 qualities of 

 the starch. 



Propaga 

 tion. 



Food value 

 of the yam. 



Habitat. 



The wild 

 yam of 

 Dominica. 



The Yam. Dioscorea alata, and other species. 



Yams are the esculent tubers of several species of Dioscorea 

 that have been cultivated in warm countries for ages. More 

 nutritious than the common potato, they supply an abund- 

 ance of wholesome food to the inhabitants of tropical and 

 sub-tropical regions ; and, in the West Indies, they enter 

 very largely into the diet of all classes of the population. 

 Most of the cultivated varieties of yams are probably natives 

 of tropical Asia, that have been introduced into the West 

 Indies at an early period of their colonisation by Europeans, 

 and now become almost wild. The only yam of good flavour 

 and food value, that naturally belongs to the flora of the West 

 Indies, is the " waw-waw" of Dominica, Rajaiiia pleioneura^ 

 which grows abundantly in the forests of that island. It is 

 dug up by the woodmen and sold in the markets of the chief 



