PRODUCE 
125 
other hand, even in the distant forest villages we find 
the manioc, whose mealy roots, boiled or roasted, take 
the place of our potatoes; the roots of Saonjo [Arttm 
esculenhim) also form a favourite food of the people. 
The cultivation of coffee has already made a satisfac¬ 
tory beginning, and ought to thrive now that France is 
desirous of making her colonial possession renumerative. 
The easily accessible mountain districts on the east coast 
are suitable for the coffee shrub in quite an especial 
manner. 
More than ten years ago I found flourishing coffee 
plantations in the interior of the island, in the neigh¬ 
bourhood of the Betsimisaraka villages. The plants 
looked quite healthy and were richly covered with fruit. 
It would probably be renumerative for the French in 
Djibuti on the Somali coast, to take Abyssinian coffee 
plants from the neighbouring Harrar and to introduce 
this excellent quality into Madagascar. The coffee cul¬ 
ture of the interior of Madagascar has hitherto escaped 
the plague of parasites, especially the ill-famed Hemileja 
vastatrix^ which have been so destructive to the planta¬ 
tions of Reunion and Nossi-Be. 
The sugar-cane thrives very well and grows (in the 
land of the Sihanaka, for example) to nearly 12 ft. in height. 
The natives cut up the stalk into several pieces and are 
fond of sucking the sweet sap. A large sugar plantation 
has been laid out at the River Ivondro, in the neigh¬ 
bourhood of Tamatave. It is fitted with European ma¬ 
chinery and is under the charge of a native of Mauritius. 
At present, indeed, the tropical sugar has a hard struggle in 
competing with the German beet sugar, but favourable 
circumstances might again arise, and in that case the fertile 
mould of East Madagascar would be eminently suitable 
for the cultivation of the sugar-cane, as indigenous labour 
might be utilized. It would be a pity if the manufacture 
of rum were to assume larger dimensions, as the Ma- 
