AMARANTUS GANGETICUS. 



17 



In the Jaunpur district the potato is extensively and successfully cultivated. The 

 crop was introduced originally by Mr. Duncan, Resident of Benares. Land near the 

 town, and which can be easily manured, is selected for the purpose. The kinds most 

 cultivated are the white kidney, the red kidney, and a small round variety, called the 

 Madrasi, which has the merit of remaining sound during the greater part of the year. — 

 Gaz.,p. 21. 



The potato has been recommended for cultivation as a famine crop. Sir Edward 

 Buck, in his Report on the use of carrots and other root crops during times of scarcity, 

 mentions that the prices of potatoes for seed went up with a run after the failure of the 

 kharif crop in 1877. 



Explanation of Plate XCYIT. 



1 . Flowering branch. 



2. Lower portion of stem bearing tubers. 



3. A matured potato (nat. size). 



4. Section of ditto. 



5. Vertical section of flower. 



6. Fruit. 



7. Section of ditto. 



AMARANTUS GANGETICUS, Linn. 



[Hie Plate LXVII.] 



Lai sag, chaulai, chamli sag (Hind.) ; dengua (Beng.). 



Natural order Amarantacece. An erect glabrous herb, 2-3 feet high, variously coloured. 

 Leaves 2-5 inches, from linear lanceolate to rounded oval, cuneate at the base. Clusters of flowers 

 crowded in the lower axils and also forming a long terminal spike. Bracts awned, equalling or 

 exceeding the long-awned sepals and the utricle. 



Most of the varieties of what is generally known in these Provinces under the 

 name of chaulai belong to this species. They do not appear to be very extensively 

 grown, but in Bengal Roxburgh says that the varieties of this useful species are end- 

 less, and are in more general use there than any other species; and that they differ 

 from. Amarantus polygamus and A. tristis and their varieties in not admitting of 

 being cut for successive crops, but are pulled up by the roots and carried to market in 

 that state. 



In the Cawnpore district chaulai is sown in March and is ready for use in the 

 rainy season. The bazar rate is 10 annas per maund. Three kinds are recognized. 

 The leaves and tender stalks are cooked with onions or made into curry. 



* References :— S3- Br. Ind., IV., 719 ; Roxb., Fl. Ind. (Clarke's Kd.), 662 ; Watt, Diet. Econom. Prod., L, 212. and 

 III., 304 ; Church, Food Grains of India, 109 ; Stewart, Punj. PL, 181 ; DC, L'Orig. PI. Cult., 80. See also Roxburgh I.e., 

 pp. 661—663, under A. tricolor, Linn.; A. tristis, Linn.; and A. lanceolatus, oleraceus, polygamus. and lividus of Roxb., all 

 of which are synonyms. 



