31 



grass, and is readily eaten by cattle and horses." The reports from 

 Australia and India are equally favourable, The value of this plant for 

 fodder purposes is exceptionally high. Its chief merits in this respect 

 are the short time it takes to mature, and its suitability to thrive in 

 dry, sandy regions, where few other grasses would flourish equally well. 



In the Proceedings of the Agri.-Hort. Society of India, 1888, 

 p. lxxii., the following note appeared : — " The seed of this new 

 cereal was received from Kew, and was distributed as noted in the 

 Proceedings of May last. Mr. C. C. Stevens, Commissioner of Chota 

 Nagpore, now writes : "You will remember having given me a small 

 packet of seed of " tchefi" for experiment. I gave it to the Rajah of 

 Jashpore, who had it sown in two or three different localities. He has 

 not given me very precise information, but I understand that the seed 

 was treated exactly like the ordinary rainy weather crops. He tells me 

 that he has saved some three or four seers of s r ed, and that the hill 

 people have taken a fancy to the crop. The best thing he can do is to 

 keep the seed and sow next season. He has sent me a bundle of 

 plants, which I shall forward to you when a favourable opportunity 

 occurs. The straw or grass is 4 feet or 4| feet in length, and smells 

 sweet. "As only about 2 ounces of the seed was supplied to Mr. Stevens, 

 the results obtained appear very satisfactory for the first season, and if 

 the crop is found suitable there should be no difficulty in establishing it 

 next season/' 



A very full account of ten is given by Mr J. F. Duthie, F.L.S., in 

 the Report of the Saharunpur Gardens for the year 1888, p.p. 11-12. 

 The following extracts are of interest : — 



" Seeds of this grass were sent to us last year by the Director of the 

 Royal Gardens, Kew, with the remark that it was an Abyssinian food- 

 grain which might prove useful for India. I have a bad opinion of it 

 as a food-grain, but think better of it as a fodder, and have therefore 

 classed it under the head of ' fodder plants.' 



" Teff consists of two varieties, one with white seeds and the other with 

 red seeds. The white-seeded kind is said to be cultivated in Abyssinia 

 during the dry season and the red during the rains. We tried the two 

 kinds here during both seasons, and found, as stated, that the white 

 answered best for the dry season and the red for the white. 



" Three sowings were made of the two kinds — the first in March, the 

 second in April, and the third in July. The March sowing of the 

 white variety gave an out-turn of grain at the rate of 660 lbs. per 

 acre, while the red variety, sown on the same date, only resulted in an 

 out-turn of 17 lbs. per acre. The crop was cut in the beginning of 

 May, but sprang up again into a second growth and yielded a cutting 

 of green fodder early in the rains. The note made regarding the weight 

 of this cutting has, unfortunately, been mislaid, and I am therefore un- 

 able to give its approximate weight per acre. 



" The April sowing of the white variety produced no grain, and the 

 sowing of the red variety made at the same time only returned 11 lb>. 

 of grain per acre. Both kinds, however, gave a good crop of fodder in 

 the middle of July, the red variety producing 11,022 and the white 

 7,436 lbs. per acre. The cutting was in a half-dried state when 

 weighed, or the figures would have amounted to a greater total. 



"The July sowing of the white variety gave an out-turn of 11 lbs. 



