April. 1909.J 335 



After selecting the land, it should be 

 well ploughed. The soil selected in 

 Travancore is usually of a porous 

 character, where water cannot stagnate. 

 The next process is the formation of 

 ridges, three feet apart. Probably, 

 however, pits 2'x2'xl' deep, three feet 

 apart are preferable. The pits should 

 be filled with dried leaves, which should 

 be burnt as a precaution against white 

 ants, and as a small instalment of 

 manure. Ashes and other manures 

 should be mixed with the soil. Ashes 

 are, however, pre-eminently fitted to 

 develop the tubers and ward off their 

 insect enemies, which are numerous. 



When the pit system is adopted, the 

 pits should be so filled up with loose soil 

 as to raise the centre of each to a height 

 of seven or eight inches above the 

 ordinary soil level. The raised portion 

 of each mound should have a diameter 

 of about one foot. In an acre there will 

 be about 4,500 maunds. In the case of 

 ridges, the planting should be at a 

 distance of three feet. 



Tapioca is propagated by means of 

 cuttings from its stems, each cutting 

 having at least three nodes. When the 

 tubers are gathered, the stems are 

 preserved for cuttings. These cuttings 

 are planted in a slightly slanted position. 

 Care should be taken not to plant them 

 too deeply in the ground. Not more 

 than three nodes should be underground. 

 The cuttings should be put in when the 

 ground is damp, or when rain is driz- 

 zling. There is no fixed time for plant- 

 ing in Travancore. The crop is culti- 

 vated throughout the year, with the 

 exception of the dry months, December 

 to February. In a week or ten days 

 after planting, the cuttings begin to 

 sprout, and the healthy sprigs can be 

 distinguished from the unhealthy. Un- 

 necessary sprigs should be removed. 

 The soil should be slightly stirred and 

 weeds removed occasionally. 



In order to decide the time of harvest, 

 the tubers of a few plants should be 

 examined. If they appear to be mature, 

 the crop should be dug up. After the 

 tubers are gathered, the stems should 

 be tied in small bundles and placed on 

 the ground with the root end below, so 

 that the capacity for germination may 

 be retained. 



The tubers will not keep long in their 

 raw state. Within a week at most they 

 should be either sun-dried or boiled. If 

 required for immediate consumption 

 they are usually boiled, either alone or 

 with tamarind leaves, the water being 

 poured off two or three times. The 

 tuber is also frequently reduced to 



Edible Products. 



powder, washed in clean water half a 

 dozen times, pressed in a cloth and then 

 dried in the sun, after which the flour 

 will keep for a considerable period. 



When required for storage or export, 

 it is usually cut into slices and sun- 

 dried after the thick outer skin has 

 been removed. It is sometimes also 

 boiled before being cut and sun-dried. 



The cost of cultivation per acre and 

 value of yield will doubtless be of inter- 

 est- I am here speaking of cultivation 

 under ordinary circumstances. My esti- 

 mate for preparing the land, manuring, 

 planting the sets, weeding, inter-culture 

 and harvesting is Rs. 130 per acre. 



The Value oj the Crop.— Each plant 

 may yield on an average 24 lbs. of tubers. 

 Presuming that 4,000 are established per 

 acre, the gross outturn might be 96,000 

 lbs. per acre, the value of which would 

 be very considerable. At present therf* 

 has been considerable fall in the price 

 of Tapioca in Travancore, but after 

 making ample allowance for this, and 

 after allowing for interest on capital 

 laid out to acquire the land, there is 

 no doubt that a large profit can be 

 secured. 



It seems a great pity that advantage 

 was not taken of the large stores of 

 Tapioca in Travancore for the needs of 

 the famine-stricken in North India. I 

 understand that something has been 

 done recently in introducing Tapioca 

 from Travancore in the famine districts 

 of Northern India by the Salvation 

 Army. There is also a small tiade in 

 Tapioca flour with Great Britain.— Agri- 

 cultural Journal of India, Vol. III., Pt. 

 IV., October, 1908. 



THE CACAO INDUSTRY. 



Results of the Recent Experiments 

 with Cacao in the West Indies. 

 {Concluded from, p. H6.) 



Discussion. 



Professor J. B. Harrison (British 

 Guiana) asked whether these experiments 

 had control plots among them. 



Dr. Watts said that if by control 

 plots Professor Harrison meant plots 

 receiving no manure, then there were 

 control plots. In these experiments the 

 cacao trees were planted from 15 to 20 

 feet apart, and each plot was separated 

 by at least two intervening rows of 

 trees. Plots 2 and 6 were separated 

 from 7 and 10 by three rows of trees. 

 That he thought was as much control 

 as could be expected upon any estate, 



