24 



mjnation. But it should not be allowed to get too yellow, or most 

 of the seed will shake out and be lost. By sowing early, some 

 growers cut the first crop for hay and allow the second crop to run 

 to seed. 



VOLUNTEER CROPS. 



In the Transvaal Teff " volunteers " freely from self-sown seed, 

 and advantage is sometimes taken of this fact to produce a medium 

 crop of hay at low cost. Some farmers sow in January, and when 

 the crop is nearly ripe, turn their stock on, depending on the seed 

 which is shaken out to resow the ground for another season. 



SOME DIFFICULTIES IN HANDLING. 

 Teff is an easily grown crop, and is not subject to many 

 diseases or pests. The main difficulties to be avoided in handling, 

 are : — 



(1) The effects of ,a protracted drought when the seed is ger- 

 minating or the seedlings are just above the ground ; 



(2) The effect of heavy and continuous rain when the crop is 

 Hearing maturity. 



When an early crop is desired, the first of these must be risked. 

 Loss from layering may be greatly reduced by sowing not less than 

 two months before the usual period of heaviest rainfall. Thus, in 

 Pretoria, Teff sown in December was harvested with difficulty. 



DISEASES AND PESTS. 



The only diseases and pests to which Teff has so far been found 

 subject in South Africa, are Is-ona (Stricja lutea) and a leaf rust 

 (Uromyces teffii, Pole Evans). 



Is-ona, also called Witch-weed, Red-weed, Fire-weed, and Rooi- 

 bloemetje, is a parasite which lives on the roots of the maize plant, 

 Teff, Kaffir-corn, sorghum and several other grasses. In the dry 

 season of 1915-16, it very seriously reduced the second crop ot Teff, 

 causing it to die out in large patches. It does not appear to affect 

 the first crop (of early sown Teff) seriously, and in this we find 

 a means of combating 'it. By sowing early (October and November) 

 we can get a good cutting of hay, even on infected land. A second 

 crop is allowed to come up ; this will be badly infested with the 

 parasite, and before the latter matures seed, the whole crop — Teff 

 and Is-one together — is ploughed under, destroying the Is-ona and 

 adding green-manure to the soil. 



. The Rust of Teff is a new species of Uromyces, recently 

 described'^By Mr. Pole Evans. In wet, warm seasons it attacks, 

 the crops somewhat heavily, and must reduce the value of the hay 

 to some extent. There is no known treatment of the seed that is 

 an effective preventive; dressing , it with chemicals has no known 

 effect against rust. Rotation of other crops, after Teff, should be 

 practised as far as possible. 



CULTIVATION IN ABYSSINIA. 



The following notes on the cultivation of Teff in Abyssinia 

 by Mons. E. Coulbeaux, Missionaire Apostolique en Abyssinie,. were 

 sent to the Foreign Office, by M. de Martino, then Italian Agent and 

 Consul-General at Cairo, and published in the Ken- liu'letin (3). 



Thaf-hagaiz is so called from the name of the season hagaiz, 

 " which, according to Abyssinian reckonng, includes all our winter 



