April i, 1882.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
869 
AGRI-HORTICULTURE SOCIETY OF INDIA. 
Tubers of "Chuffa," Cyperus Esculentus. 
The Secretary placed on the table some tubers of 
the above grass recently received in response to his 
application from the Directer of the Botanic Garden, 
Adelaide, wuo thus writes respecting it in a recent 
report : — " Chuffa or Earth Almond. The American 
papers praise it, and say that for a few years after 
its introduction nothing was heard of it, except here 
and there as a curiosity ; but within the past year 
or two the interest in ihe plant has revived, and the 
Southern papers are advocating its culture, It is said 
that au acre of chvffas will produce more pork than 
an acre or corn. The yield is said to be about 200 
bushels to the acre. It is also still extensively grown 
in modern Egypt. The chuffa dies down during winter. 
It is planted in rows two and a half feet apart, and 
two tubers should be planted two feet apart, and 
two inches deep. It does not seem to do so well 
with us as in America." 
It is also alluded to by Dr. Royle in his Himalayan 
Botany as follows :—" The aromatic principle being 
absent in the tubers of some species, while fecula is 
secreted in large proportion, they arc employed as 
food, as those of Cyperus esculentus, a native of the 
South of Europe and of the North of Africa, and 
supposed to be the Malinothalis of Theophrastus. In 
addition to feeula these roots contain a fixed oil 
which enables them to be formed into palatable emul- 
sions, which, with the addition of sugar, have been 
employed as a substitute for coffee and cocoa." 
The Secretary added he had also applid to Dr. 
Schoinburgh and received from him some seed of the 
" Egyptian Pearl Millet," which is apparently our 
"bajra" (Panicum spicatum.) A portion of the chuffa 
tubers had been sown in the Society's garden ; the 
remainder (a very small quantity) is now available to 
members. 
Japan Pea. 
Read a letter from Captain J. F. Pogson, forward- 
ing an extract from an American paper (Missisippi 
Patron) respecting a prolific pea raised in Japan, and 
suggesting that steps be taken towards obtaining a 
quantity of this variety for trial in India, which 
was agreed to. 
The following is the extract alluded to :— 
"Air. T. E. Martin and Mr. R. T. Rutlege, both 
American progressive farmers, state that the 'Japau 
pea' is the most productive, as well as good food 
that they have ever grown for all kinds of stock ; 
horses, cattle, sheep, and hogs, will eat the pea?. | 
stems, and leaves if harvested before fully matured I 
and cured like other hay, with as much relish as 
they do corn. Then there is no pea for the table, 
it is soaked in water the night before cooking, that 
-.has a more exquisite flavour. They grow on a stout 
bushy stalk from two or three feet high, somewhat 
resembling the cotton plant. The main stalk, as well 
as the branches of the limbs, are literally loaded 
with small peapnds, filled with little yellow peas, 
similar in colour, size, and flavour to the English 
garden pea." 
As jegards cultivation they state : — " But the way 
to get tho greatest yield is to plant in hills two and 
a half foot each way, allowing but ono stock to tho 
hill to remain after tho first working. That will 
five you »>,!IIJ0 stalks to the acre, and ou ordinary- 
land cultivate. 1 tho same us crn, will average at tho 
lowest estimato a pint of shelled peas to tho stdk, 
or a fraction over 10S.J bushels per acre. I doubt 
not that with high cultivation and good soil it 
would liu an easy matter to double that yield, hc- 
BSes there is no other crops that will yield more 
hay to tho acre, lu fact I know of no crop so re- 
munerative as tiie JUp.m pea. It is a sure cropper, 
as clearly demonstrated by my experience with this 
season's crop. Neither wet nor dry weather materially 
interferes with the quantity or quality of the yield." 
Bael Fruit. 
Mr. R. A. Sfendale submitted an extraordinary 
cluster of Bael Fruit, nine in nnmber, with the fol- 
lowing particulars :— 
"Baboo Hem Chunder Mookerjee, of Jonai, a well- 
known Zemindar of these parts, has just brought 
me the accompanying very curious cluster of Ba 1 
Fruit which I send over to the Society as a rarity. 
The bunch consisted originally of ten Laels, but 
oue got knocked off. Ou the same tree, but almost, 
out of reach, is a similar bunch, but larger. Baels, 
as a rule, grow singly or occasionally in pairs. I 
have never seen a clutter like this before, it resem- 
bles a bunch of gigantic green grapes." 
BANANA CULTIVATION IN JAMAICA. 
In 1876, when the Irrigation Works came into 
operation, the writer thought that with irrigation the 
light and friable land lying south and east of Spanish 
Town, which had hitherto only been used for grazing 
pens, might be used for some more profitable cultiv- 
ation, and, therefore, in the month of September of 
that year, he, as an experiment planted 10 acres with 
bananas. It was not without some misgiving that the 
experiment was made as the banana had not previously 
been grown on the plains of St. Catherine, but, after 
four years' experience, the writer has the satisfaction 
of bearing testimony to its complete success. Others 
have been induced to follow his example, so that there 
are at present upwards of 300 acres in bananas, the 
writer's 10 acres having been increased in that time 
to 100 acres. From a monetary point of view the 
results have been highly satisfactory, and, from his 
own personal experience, the writer is of opinion that 
in a fairly good soil, with the command of water for 
irrigation and under careful and intelligent manage- 
ment, the net return per acre may safely be estimated 
at £15 per annum ; so that any industrious man, with 
sufficient capital to establish 10 acres in a proper 
manner, may be considered fairly started in life. 
Without irrigation, banana cultivation would be im- 
possible on such an arid plain, and even with irriga- 
tion close supervision is necessary to ensure satisfactory 
results. With water at hand for irrigating, the capital 
required to establish any given acreage can be cal- 
culated almost exactly, and such being the case, this 
cultivation gives perhaps less cause for anxiety than 
that of any other crop. No return should be counted 
on for the lirst 12 month?, and the yield will of course 
vary considerably according to the nature of the soil, 
which should be of a loamy open nature. The writer 
had one field of 10 acres which gave in the second 
year a return of £240 net, whilst another field of IS 
acres only gave a return of £70 net. He considers, 
however, that this disparity is not ouly due to original 
difference of soil, but also to the fact that tho larger 
field had been cultivated by the peasantry for twelve 
successive years. Much has been said obout auxiliary 
crops, and, as the bananas have to be planted at least 
ten feet apart, it would at first sight appear advis- 
able to utilize the intermediate spaces while the 
bananas are small, but any quickly ma'uring crop, 
such as Indian corn, cassava and pease speedily over- 
tops or chokes the bananas, which aro thereby retarded 
in their growth and often permanently injured, bo 
that the auxiliary crops can never be really profitable. 
The following general suggestions, based on ex- 
perience, may bo found useful :— It is of the first 
importance to sccluct a suitable soil which should bo 
friable and light, but not so saudy »a to allow the 
too rapid escape of the water. It may be aecopUd 
