20 SEEDS AKD PLANTS IMPOKTED. 



17094 and 17095— Continued. 



enous matter. It possesses, too, a sufficient quantity of starchy matter to con- 

 stitute a fairly hygienic diet. Teff is utilized as follows: Ground into flour; 

 made into a semiliquid or thin paste consistency by adding water, and placed 

 in earthen jars. The leaves of the 'Geaho' (gesho) plant, which yield a fer- 

 ment, are added. When fermentation is complete the sirupy mixture is slowly 

 poured on the surface of well-heated, circular, flat baking pans. After a cer- 

 tain amount of manipulation and turning over, a semiaerated, flat, round cake 

 is the result. This keeps for months without deterioration, is broken into 

 fragments and dried in the sun. The dried bread is used as their chief supply 

 when at war or on expeditions. Teff undoubtedly possesses highly nutritious 

 qualities and is decidedly more digestible than wheat. It could therefore be 

 exploited as an invalid food. Teff is not known to possess distinct drought- 

 resisting properties. ' ' ( Extract from letter from the British consul at Adis Ababa, 

 Abyssinia.) 



17096. Phaseolus radiatus. Mung bean. 



From Augusta, Ga. Received through the N. L. Willet Seed Companv, January 

 12, 1906. 



Newman. 



17097 to 17100. 



From Channing, Tex. Received through Mr. A. H. Leidigh, January 12, 1906. 



17097. Teiticum durum. Macaroni wheat. 

 Galgalos. Grown from No. 9872. 



17098. Triticum dicoccum. Black emmer. 

 Grown from No. 11650. 



17099. Panicum miliaceum. Broom-corn millet. 

 Black Voronezh. Grown from No. 9425. 



17100. Hordeum vulgare. Barley. 

 Tennessee Winter. Grown from No. 11193. 



17101 to 17103. 



From Sibpur, Calcutta, India. Received through Mr. A. Gage, acting superin- 

 tendent, Royal Botanic Gardens, January 13, 1906. 



A collection of tubers, as follows : 



17101. Amorphophallus campanulatus. Stanley's washtub. 



The members of this genus of aroids are natives of India and other parts of 

 tropical Asia, where they are cultivated for the starch which is so abundant in 

 the rootstock. Amorphophallus campanulatus has a tuber weighing 8 to 10 

 pounds, shaped like a flat cheese; spathe nearly 2 feet broad and 15 inches 

 high, with a horizontal, spreading, fluted border, red-purple on the border, 

 then grayish white spotted and purple in the center. Doctor White says of 

 it that when in flower the fetor it exhales is most overpowering, and so per- 

 fectly resembles that of carrion as to induce flies to cover the club of the spadix 

 with their eggs. 



17102. Colocasia antiquorum esculenta (?) 

 (Labeled "Alocasia antiquorum.^) 



17103. Alocasia indica. Alocasia. 



"These roots are cultivated to some extent throughout India, but do not 

 occupy so important a place in the domestic economy there as do the taros in 

 Polynesia or the yautias in tropical America." {Barrett.) 



106 



