7 
Many of the above Ordinances were discussed and amended by the Planters’ Association 
which came into being during 1917 and wis incorporated under Ordinance No. 4 of 1918 (Janu¬ 
ary.) During 1917 the Agricultural body then known as the Agricultural Board consisting of 
members selected by His Excellency the Governor was several limes requested by the latter to 
visit in company with him several estates and at these meetings it soon became evident that a 
Planters’ Association would be of more benefit to the community than an official Committee, 
Unier the auspices of the Government a committee was appointed to draw up the regulations 
and the members of the council of the Association were electel at a general meeting of plan¬ 
ters in October 1917. Although the planters of this Colony are at present working under 
very depressed conditions caused by the shortage of freight it is generally believed that agri¬ 
culture in this colony will progress more rapiJly when the planters manage their own business. 
As an outcome of discussions at the Food Committee meeting and at meetings of the 
Planters’ Association the growing of the following plants which are alrealy wall knnvn in the 
Colony has been recommended :— 
1. Maize (Zea Mais). Owing to the exacting requirements of this plant in respect of 
humus its culture can only be developed in the outlying islands rich in guano deposits and on 
a smaller scale alongside the so-called marshes of the Seychelles group. It is estimated that 
about 500 tons of maize can easily be grown in this Colony, the yield in the outlying islands 
reaching and even exceeding 1 ton per acre. Measures will however have to be adopted 
against the weevil (Calandra Oryzae) which destroys the crop very so an after it is stored. 
Drying kills have been recommended. 
2. Kick (Oryza sativa). The culture of this plant is well understood by the few planters 
who have taken it up in marshy ground. Some 50 years ago or more this cereal was extensively 
grown in this Colony. A few plants of the mountiin rice had still survive! and it is mostly 
this strain together with a variety from India that the rice planters have adonted. 
Unfcr! una l 
• i ■ - ■.. ; 
cardinal bird of 
intro dice i at 
>ufc 
me same 
time and rice culture is now ban licapped owing to the ravages o-f this p iddy bird. The only” 
measure of destruction w hich seem advisable but h irdly work ible owing to the financial de¬ 
pression of the colony is the payment of a bounty per each bird destroyed. 
3. Manioc ok Cassava (Manibot Utilissima) Is a plant more suited to the hills 
than to the marshes owing to the well known requirements of the plant in respect of dry land. 
Unfortunately the hill sides are very steep in this colony and much erosion is t> be feared if 
wide are is are planted out. Every bo Jy knows that tens of surface soil sometimes exceeding 
several hundreds ol tons in one year are washed down to the sea when manioc is s :t out on 
steep sides. The granitic rocks of this group of islands are of extremely slow decomposition 
and it is questionable whether the community has the right to rain by erosion in a year the 
land accutnu atei during centuries which has been handed over to them by their forefathers 
and which they should preserve in at least as good as possible a state of fertility for their 
descendants. 
it is not perhaps known that the labourers here eat manioc leaves. The young 
shoots are pounded and squeezed to get the juice out then cooked with salt fish and greatly 
relished. * 
4. Sweet potatoes (Ipomea batatas). This culture is very well understood by the.inhabi¬ 
tant who prefer to plant sweet potatoes during the dry season (May to October) owing to the 
vines being inclined to develop more leaves than tubers in the rainy season. 
Many outlying islands where the soil is flat are far more suitable to ground provisions 
the islands of the Mahe group where the soil has been already worn out by erosion. A crop 20 
to 100 times larger is obtained in the outlying islands and this means in many cases 50 acres 
being planted and looked after instead of 1. 
5. Pumpkins (Cucurbita maxima) are everywhere grown especiilly in the outlying islands 
where they produce crops so abundant in goo 1 seasons that T have seen whaleboats being, 
pointed out to me as units of measurement for the Ciop per acre. At the Agricultural Exui- 
b tion held in September 1918, at the request of the Committee of the Horticultural War 
Belief Fund, as many as 25 varieties of pumpkins were exhibited. 
6. Bananas (Musa paradisiaca) are extensively grown and set out in the rainy season 
during which they make stupendous growth even in soils which are by no means rich. It is often 
not well understood that the roots of the bananas are very large and easily made to branch by 
cutting their ends and that for this reason friable soils are more suitable than the others. At 
the time when they are set out it is for this reason that the holes should be very large and 
filled in with gooiloim. There are no less thin 18 varieties of bananas growing lathis 
Colony. They were described in Kew Bulletin No. 6 of 1913. The mot valuable crops are 
obtained from bananas St Jacques and Malag-iche which are pb.nfcains. of the Con;-) typ‘pro¬ 
ducing bunches worth R. 1 each. Among the newly introduced varieties the Gros Michel 
from Jamaica has been found to produce a large bunch after 6 m raths i.e , about 4 months 
earlier thau the other tall plantains. 
7. Beans. A good many beans are grown here extensively as an intercalary crop botween 
manioc or maize. The numerous sow peas (Vigna Catjang) are the most com mo >ly grown includ¬ 
ing several varieties of Chinese origin which produce cord like beans more than one foot in 
length. The pods are also used as string beans when they are young. Cow peas are also some- 
times set out as a green manuring plant. The dry beans fetch about 10 cents a lb. in the local 
market. Being very rich in protein they make a good ration when used with rice, cassava, or 
sweet potatoes? The plants take only 2 months to mature their pods from date of sowing. 
Swokd bean (Canavalia ensiformis) is seldom grown, althougn it is by far the hardiest 
plant ot all the beans group producing in poor soil a stupendous amount of leaf and pods. The- 
green pods are used as a vegetable and make excellent curries with meat or fish. The nearly 
mature beans rpake good soups. They are wrongly considered as being poisonous. 
