Teff Grass. 



(Eragrostis abyssinica.) 

 PART I.— USES AND VALUE OF TEFF. 



It was sometime between 1768 aad 1773, almost one hundred and 

 fifty years ago, that the travelJer, Bruce, found the native 

 Abyssinians cultivating Teff as a cerea l food-stuff. But it was not 

 till one hundred and twenty years later that this valuable grass 

 was introduced into cultivation in other parts of the world. Just 

 thirty years ago (1886), the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, obtained 

 teff seed from Abyssinia and distributed it to numerous Botanical 

 Gardens and Agricultural Experiment Stations in India and, the 

 British Colonies (3)* 



It is the exception when the introduction of a new crop 

 produces spectacular results, but Teff is one of those rare excep- 

 tions. Within seven years of its introduction into South Africa it 

 not only put scores of struggling farmers well on their feet, but 

 they have publicly stated that its introduction has repaid the State 

 over and over again for the whole cost of the Division of Botany 

 of the Department of Agriculture, since the latter was started. 



Briefly, its history is as follows : Tfiff -has been cultivate d-ior 

 centuries by the Abyssinians as a q .uickzgmgJllg:.__drou ght-resistant,_^ 

 heavy- yieiaiiig gra in cro"g^ __ Because of these qualities seed was^ 

 introduced into India m ia86, with a view to providing a grain-crop 

 in times of low rainfall, resulting in famine. For this purpose it 

 did not prove a success, since the Oriental does not take readily to 

 new food-stuffs. It was favourably reported upon, however, as a 

 fodder-grass, not only in India, but also in Australia and Natal, 

 where it had been introduced at the same time ; but in none of 

 these countries did it acquire the status ofafa£m_crop ; it was 

 mere^~Erie3Tii3~anowe3 to'Hisappear? ABoiTE the year 1895, when 

 in charge of the botanical experiments of the California State 

 Agricultural Experiment Station, I introduced Teff to the Experi- 

 ment Station at Berkeley. But California being a region of winter 

 rainfall, where Lucerne was the staple fodder, farmers had little 

 use for an annual hay-crop, and Teff never attracted much atten- 

 tion. However, in May, 1903, I brought seed with me from Cali- 

 fornia to South Africa. The first seed from this introduction was 

 harvested in the early part of 1904. The Transvaal being a region 

 of summer rainfall, with a climate very similar to that of the South- 

 eastern United States, Teff grew splendidly, and soon began to 

 attract attention. In the season 1904-05, Mr. V. L. Robertson, of 

 Amersfoort, to whom I supplied seed for trial, reported most highly 

 upon it. In the season 1905-06, twenty out of twenty-two farmers 

 who tried it, found it an unqualified success. In 1906-07, twenty- 

 one out of twenty-eight were successful. Then farmers began to 



* The numbers in brackets refer to the Bibliography at the 'end. 



