Edible Products. 3 



highest yields of grain are obtained from 

 crops grown from transplanted seed- 

 lings. The yield of straw may be taken 

 as about the same under the two 

 systems. This, as indicated above, is 

 due to the better root system induced 

 by transplanting. The practice may be 

 compared to that common in orchards 

 and gardens of transplanting young 

 seedlings. 



An objection often raised to the intro» 

 duction of this system into a new dis- 

 trict is its cost. People will often admit 

 that in the delta lands where the sup- 

 ply of water is assured, and the soil rich, 

 transplanting is the most profitable 

 method to adopt, while they do not 

 recognise that its advantages apply 

 equally to poorer lands irrigated from 

 more precarious sources. Prom the 

 point of view of the actual expenses on 

 labour, there is very little to choose 

 between the two systems. The extra 

 cost of lifting the seedlings, carrying 

 them to the field, and planting them by 

 hand is counter-balanced by the extra 

 weeding and very tedious thinning and 

 filling necessitated if the seed is broad- 

 casted. Where the water-supply is pre- 

 carious the advantages of transplanting 

 are still more strongly brought out. 

 The seed-beds occupy an area of about 

 one-twentieth or one-twenty-fifth of the 

 total area to be transplanted. Por the 

 first month of the crop's growth, there- 

 fore, only that proportion of the coal 

 supply is needed. Seed-beds may, there- 

 fore often be sown with the help of 

 rains, or under wells, before the full 

 supply is received, and as experiment 

 seems to show that within certain limits 

 the age of the seedlings at the time of 

 transplanting is immaterial, the seed- 

 beds may be shown three weeks before 

 the time when full supply is expected 

 and will not be seriously affected even 

 if water is not received until two or 

 three weeks after this. The total 

 amount of water necessary for the crop 

 is, in any case, much less, and, therefore, 

 in a year of short rainfall, tank-irrigated 

 crops will have a greater chance of 

 success. The saving of time effected by 

 the adoption of the seed-bed system will 

 often enable the farmer to cultivate a 

 longer growing and, therefore, finer 

 variety of paddy than if he broad- 

 casted his seed or even in certain cases 

 to grow two crops instead of one. Or 

 again the period between the receipt of 

 the first rains when the land may be 

 ploughed and the time of full supply in 

 the channel may permit of his rais- 

 ing a green soiling crop on the paddy 

 fields, while his seed-beds are being 

 grown elsewhere. This green crop may 

 be trampled in a few days before trans- 

 planting, and will save the cost of cut- 



i [April, 1909. 



ting and carrying the large quantities 

 of green manure so often found neces- 

 sary for the paddv crop.— Indian Agri- 

 culturist, Vol. XXXIV., No. 2, February, 

 1909, p. 116. 



THE CULTIVATION OF TAPIOCA 

 IN TRAVANCORE, 



By T. Ponnambalam Pillay, 

 Excise Commissioner of Travancore. 



The manihot, Cassava, or tapioca plant 

 (Manihot utilissima) belongs to the 

 Euphorbia tribe, and is closely i elated 

 to the Ceara rubber (Manihot glaziovii) 

 so well known to every planter. It is 

 now very commonly grown in Travan- 

 core, being the source of the tapioca 

 meal, which constitutes an important 

 article of food of the people of that 

 State. 



It is not indigenous to India, but 

 appears to have been introduced from 

 the tropical parts of South America. 

 In Travancore, its introduction was due 

 to H. H. the late Maharaja, who took 

 great interest in the welfare of his 

 subjects. By the introduction of this 

 food plant, the large population of 

 Travancore has been to a large extent 

 placed beyond the reach of the famine 

 conditions which prevail in other parts 

 of India. 



There are about fifteen varieties of the 

 plant cultivated in Travancore. There 

 is, however, a general similarity between 

 them. The vigour of growth depends 

 chiefly upon the fertility of the soil. 

 The leaves are generally digitate, except 

 in one case, when they are digitate 

 partite, resembling ganja (Cannabis 

 sativa). Chiefly for this reason, this 

 variety is known as Ganja Tapioca. 

 The tubers of this variety mature in six 

 months. The period required for other 

 kinds usually ranges from eight to 

 twelve months. 



The two main varieties are one sweet 

 and one bitter. The latter contains a 

 poisonous element, which can be got rid 

 of by roasting or boiling, the water 

 being poured away two or three times 

 in the latter case. 



Tapioca will grow in almost any kind 

 of soil provided the climatic conditions 

 are not too rigid. I have known it 

 flourish up to an altitude of 2,000 feet. 

 In fact, I believe that it thrives better 

 in Travancore on ordinary or inferior 

 soil, with a little manure than on 

 superior red land, where it needs 

 constant watering. It is liable, however, 

 to greatly exhaust the soil and render it 

 unfit for cultivating the same or other 

 crops unless heavily manured. 



