9 
22. Yams Discoreas (Canibares). There are several yams grown in the colony* twoof the 
greater yams (Dioscorea alata) and 1 white lessor yarn (Dioscorea aculeata) which is named 
cambare betty. The tubers of one of tire greater yam reaches enormous dimensions being 
more than a foot broad and 6 inches thick. A reddish sap ezules on slcinning the tubers 
whose flesh is slightly of the same colour. This variety is no v becoming scarce. Many other 
varieties should be introduced from the far East especially the long yams measuring several 
feet long whoch do not send their tubers deep into the soil. In the W. Indies yams as well as 
bananas and dasheens are converted into meal. They make an excellent bread. The good 
keeping qualities of yams render these plants very useful when food i 3 scarce. 
Amorphophalltts Campanulatus (Tulipier de Java}. This aroid produces a huge conn or 
tuber which is used as food in the Philippines. It is generally known as a curiosity the enor¬ 
mous toul smelling flower smerging from the ground before the development of the huge 
umbrella like leaf. These tubers in the Far East are harvested in the dry season, cut in thin 
slices are dried in the sun. The dried slices are pounded in a mortar and this meal is then 
boiled and fed to pigs. The tubers cannot be used in the row state owing to the presence in 
the flesh ot' crystals of calcium oxalate which render them unpalatable. It is said that the 
top of the young petiole deprived of its outer cuticle and boiled to get rid of the burning sap 
makes a good salad. 
Tacca Pinnatifida (Arrowroot de 1’Inde). It is not generally known that this plant pro¬ 
duces a very white starnch used as food in Madagascar. The leaves are also used for making 
straw hats. 
Papaya Carica (Papaw). The green fruit of this tree is also used as vegetable and for 
feeding pigs. There are many 
female plants) are bisexual. Some of these 
flowers only and when a male p! >nt occurs 
mclc! 
varieties which instead oi’ being dioecious (male and 
latte: ,ariettas have a tendency to produce female 
* £ tapped f* T*cl }■)»*-5,0,31x03 77 flick 
their appearance have a tendency to prod uou a .&Li ichtw 2ov?er.< instead of m t! . This tendency 
is however absent in the local strains which are dkccious anl it is in vain that many planters 
take to topping them. 
There are many other garden plants which except the tomato are grown from European 
seeds. 
As a rule gardening is well understood in the colony and all planters take sometimes 
great trouble in having their own garden. They unfortunately neglect surface cultivation 
and red laterite soils are as a rule allowed to become baked with the result that the develop¬ 
ment of the plant is checked and that maximum evaporation takes places, 
I am often asked how best to apply lime to garden soil. In the form in which this article 
is sold in Seychelles (Ohaux eteinte, ehaux de matron) it is caustic and should be employed in 
small quantity at a time. Huge quantities of 2 tons per acre are to he avoided as 
barm to the soil will result from a too rapid dissipation of its humus, nitrogen, potash. It is 
safer to use ground limestones (coral) which have not the empoverishing effect of lime. Only 
acid soils full of organic matters can be treated with lime especially when legumes (beans) are 
grown because lime favours the development of these plants which fix atmospheric nitrogen 
by means of bacteria in their root3. These bacteria cannot live in acid soils. 
CHAPTER IY. 
METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS 
y *■* / r*** 1 r*- FI 00 00 
The subjoined tabulated return shows the rainfall during 1917 and also the rainfall from 
June 1916 to May 1917 which governed the crops of the year under review 1917. Another 
return is algo appended to show the variation of the rainfall from June to June during the 
last 20 years. The latter table gives a more correct idea of the variations in the annual rain¬ 
fall because the greatest monthly rainfall occurring either in December or January, it uften 
happens that one year is drier or Wetter than another owing to the heavy rains beginning in 
December instead of January. The season which governed the crops for 1917 was unfavour¬ 
able to coconuts but favourable to vanilla. The latter plant which is an orchid was benStted 
by the dry weather which occurred in August, September and October 1916 while coconut 
trees in the shallow soils of this Colony suffer when the spell of dry weather exceeds 2 months. 
For the same season the rainfall for July, August and September 1917 have far exceeded the 
requirements of vanilla and the crop of this orchid tor 1916 will be considerably reduced as 
compared for the crop for 1917. As vanilla cultivation is at present restricted owing ^o di¬ 
sease, over-production and competition with vanillin (which is mostly prepared from oil of 
cinnamon and clove) and the culture of coconut palms more developed, it is important for the 
colony to have a spell of dry weather of the shortest duration possible. 
