312 TROPICAL AGRICULTURE 



beans are highly relished as human food in India. The plant 

 is also cultivated in Burma for its large starchy roots. 



Mungo bean (^Phaseolus mungo) is a small, herbaceous 

 legume native to India. It is now quite generally cultivated 

 in tropical countries. There are many varieties of mungo, 

 the seeds varying in color from red to yellow or green. The 

 seeds are extremely small and are borne in slender pods. The 

 plant is erect or semi-erect in habit, attaining a height of I 

 to 2 feet. Mungo beans are used in rotation between rice 

 crops in Japan, where the seeds are also used in preparing 

 a fondant for fine confectionery. The bean is also exten- 

 sively used as human food in India. Moreover, in Hawaii, 

 the mungo bean appears to be a promising crop. 



A closely related species (P. semierectus) is coming into use 

 in Hawaii as a green manure. This plant is a much branched 

 creeper, bearing handsome dark purple flowers and long, 

 slender, terete pods containing minute beans. Under favor- 

 able conditions it produces a large amount of vegetable sub- 

 stance and seems to have much value as a green manure 

 crop. 



GRASSES 



Among the numerous grasses cultivated in tropical coun- 

 tries, a prominent place must be given to Para grass (Panicum 

 barbinode), a native of South America. This species is com- 

 monly called Panicum grass in Hawaii, where it was intro- 

 duced from Fiji in 1902, after which it became rapidly 

 distributed over the Territory. Para grass is a coarse, long- 

 stemmed grass which readily roots at the joints. It is widely 

 cultivated throughout the Tropics as a forage grass and for 

 this purpose is extremely valuable. After a planting has 

 once been established it requires little or no attention, except 

 to cut a crop at frequent intervals. It is not drought re- 

 sistant, and therefore does not yield heavily in dry regions 

 unless irrigation water is applied. The Para grass does not 



