32 



of grain p r acre, and the sowing made on the same date of the red 

 resulted in an out-turn of 82 lbs. per acre. These out-turns may be 

 looked upon as failures, and conclusively prove that ten 2 is of no great 

 account for cultivation on the plains as a food grain. A cutting was 

 made across a section of the two plots of this July sowing in the middle 

 of August, and weighed collectively in its green state, and as a result 

 gave an out-turn of 16,000 lbs. of green fodder per acre. The out- 

 turns of 3,116 and 2,676 lbs. noted in the statement for part of this 

 plot really mean the out-turn of dried hay, as the fodder was weighed in 

 the beginning of October, and was then crisp and dry. A rainy season 

 sowing of teff may, therefore, be looked upon as capable of producing 

 16,000 lbs. of green fodder and from 2,000 to 3,000 lbs. of dried hay 

 per acre. 



" A sowing of J lb. of each kind was made at Arnigadh in the 

 begin ing of the rains, and resulted in a collective out-turn of 40 lbs of 

 grain This was a remarkably good yield for the small quantity of 

 seed sown, and proves that in hill tracts teff may yet prove a prolific 

 food grain. 



"The hay made from the teff was of exceptional good quality and 

 was greedily eaten by the garden bullocks. When it was offered to 

 them they were being fed upon jowar or sorghum stalks, and, as is well 

 known, these are remarkably sweet and cattle, when fed upon them, 

 generally refuse other kinds of dry food until they find that sorghum is 

 not forthcoming. Our garden cattle, however, seemed to prefer the teff 

 hay to the sorghum, as they would not touch the latter until they had 

 devoured the whole of the teff placed before them. 



" The experience gained here in the cultivation of teff during the past 

 year may therefore be summed up as follows : — 



" When sown in the dry season it will yield a light crop of grain, 

 and when sown in the rains it yields little or no grain, but produces 

 abundance of green fodder which may be cured into very palatable hay 

 where the latter is preferred In my opinion, teff is destined to become 

 the rye grass of India, and is well worthy of more extended trial on 

 some of the Government fodder reserves." 



7 Euchlama luxarians, Miers (Reana luxurians, Durieu). "Teosinte." 

 An annual grass of large size from Guatemala allied to the maize. The 

 first published illustration of the plant was given in the Botanical 

 Magazine, tab. 6,414. It attracted a good deal of attention about 20 

 years ago as a fodder plant (see Kew Reports, 1878, 1879 and 1880). 

 Seeds of it were widely distributed from Kew to the East and West 

 Indies, Australia, and tropicial Afiica. It is a tall, densely-tufted grass, 

 sometimes reaching 15 feet in height, the stems are as thick as the 

 thumb at the base, and the leaves 3 to 4 feet long, by 2 or 3 inches broad. 

 Dr. Schomburgk in 1880 wrote from the Adelaide Botanic Garden, S. 

 Australia : " I have now cultivated Teosinte for three years, and it is 

 one of the most prolific fodder plants." 



Mr. W. R. Robertson, Agricultural Reporter to ihe Government of 

 Madras, wrote as follows in July 1883 : — u A small plot was sown with 

 this crop ; the out-turn of green fodder was at the rate 38,400 lb. per 

 acre, a very large out-turn ; but, the cost of production was great, for 

 it was necessary to irrigate the land nearly every other day, from sow- 



