June, 1910.] 



497 



Edible Products. 



banana, might have been brought to 

 America from the Pacific Islands in 

 prehistoric times, and might have 

 fallen into comparative disuse as the 

 result of the discovery in America of 

 the Xauthosoma, which seems to be a 

 better plant for general agricultural 

 purposes. There is good historical evi- 

 dence that the banana, which certainly 

 originated in the Old World, had been 

 brought to America before the Spanish 

 conquerors arrived. No such direct testi- 

 mony is likely to be secured regarding 

 the taro, which attracted relatively 

 little attention from the early historians 

 of Spanish America. We have to rely 

 upon the general considerations that it 

 is not likely to have been brought by 

 the Spaniards, and still less likely to 

 have been adopted by the Indiaus, who 

 are very slow to take up the cultivation 

 of any new plant unless it appears to 

 have a very distinct advantage. The 

 Polynesian method of cultivating the 

 taro in pools or swamps is not known to 

 be applied to the plant anywhere in 

 America. Mr. David Fairchild, of the 

 Bureau of Plant Industry, states that the 

 Polynesian system of planting the taro in 

 the muddy soils of swamps or artifi- 

 cially flooded places is in use in the 

 island of Madeira, introduced, doubtless, 

 by the natives of the island who have 

 lived in Hawaii. The nearest approach 

 to this system is seen when the plants 

 are scattered along the banks of small 

 streams. Many yautias are raised in 

 Porto Rico on very steep, rocky slopes 

 of mountains, where the soil is very 

 shallow and irrigation is quite out of 

 the question. 



Whether or not we agree with Mr. 

 Barrett regarding the prospective com- 

 mercial importance of the aroids or their 

 profitable cultivation in the United 

 States, the study of them is eminently 

 justified by two practical considerations : 

 (1) that they are extensively used as 

 food by millious of natives of tropical 

 countries, and (2) that they are worthy 

 of more careful consideration by all 

 Europeans who undertake to settle or 

 reside in tropical countries. 



The Tropics afford a great variety of 

 fruits, though there are few localities 

 where the traveller's expectations of 

 profusion aie realised. But if fruits are 

 usually to be reckoned as scarce, there is 

 often a downright famine of vegetables. 

 Not only on the Isthmus of Panama, but 

 in many other parts of the Tropics 

 where railroad building and other im- 

 provements are being attempted by men 

 from Europe and the United States, the 

 deficiency of fresh vegetables is re- 

 cognised as a practical difficulty which 

 63 



seriously interferes with comfort, health 

 and efficiency. 



The Department of Agriculture re- 

 ceives many letters from American 

 residents of tropical countries asking for 

 information and seeds of varieties of 

 temperate vegetables that will grow in 

 the Tropics. In some regions moderate 

 success with a few of the temperate 

 types of vegetables is possible if special 

 care is used and after sufficient experi- 

 ence has been accumulated. Varieties 

 better suited to tropical conditions are 

 being discovered or introduced from 

 other tropical countries. The success of 

 the Chinese gardeners with some of 

 their seeds from Canton shows that 

 their varieties and methods of culture are 

 worthy of our careful consideration. 



In many cases the most practical 

 advice that can be given to persons 

 newly established in tropical localities 

 is to study and make use of the 

 indigenous tropical vegetables, of which 

 these yautias, taros, etc., form excellent 

 representatives. These plants will 

 thrive and produce abundantly under 

 extreme tropical conditions where most 

 of our temperate vegetables will refuse 

 to grow, and the otners can be expected 

 to produce only the most indifferent 

 results. The acrid substances and milky 

 secretions render the aroids immune to 

 many of the diseases and insect pests 

 that interfere with the cultivation of 

 other kinds of plants that lack such 

 protection, 



Propagation by root-stocks is an 

 especial advantage under tropical con- 

 ditions, since it avoids the difficulties of 

 germinating, transplanting the seed- 

 lings, and caring for the plants in their 

 tender early stages. With sufficient 

 water the cultivated aroids may be 

 expected to hold their own with any 

 other crop, and they will also thrive in 

 places too wet for most of our cultivated 

 plants. 



The agricultural advantages make it 

 all the more desirable that residents in 

 the Tropics should become thoroughly 

 acquainted with the cultivated ai'oids. 

 Many people think they have tried the 

 tropical vegtables who have not really 

 done so. It is necessary to learn how 

 to use a new plant, as well as to iearn 

 how to grow it, and one must persist 

 until he has had a fair opportunity 

 of testing his own taste. The ten- 

 dency to condemn any unfamiliar 

 dish is very general, whereas the 

 same flavour that seemed so objection- 

 able at first may appear quite attrac- 

 tive after we have become accustomed 

 to it. This is true of the aroids used as 

 garden vegetables. By people who have 



