7 . - N c: t r -- (;IN ;;4 4.r-i,THI''FLORIDA: I8PA.TOJI-'A", : fl iANDG OWL '!r[''r '1./.1891 - R ]\JElJIilt,7: ;RV : "-!The native mode of cultivating the I wooden dish, and the family gather molasses to suit ,Northern potatoes, ,., taro is altogether original. *. $ *, around it, each one provided with apiece and'cassava takes an awful lot of/grat- - 'Oolocasla Eeoulenta.. The ground is dug. out to of 'dried fish and a cocoanut ing to become fit for pancakes'or pud. the depth of at least two feet, shell full of water. The dish is a dings, to say nothing of the 'digging X&ter.rarmaraaa!_ ihai . rower; , Ever since Mr.. S. W Carson forming a cellar-like pit *; The argc'family affair, called the pea'dish, necessary to unearth the roots"-of a wrote bottom surface of the'pit thus made,is for tato, when cooked, becomes pea. year-old plant. I cannot see'why the his\ first letter l of ;nquiry:;concerning.the : )ierced.all'over with holes till it There neither knife fork :-.what- re- or ,1 nor: spoon taro, or cocco, or malanga, coco have, $jfjg root beep::puz ? mYmind sembles'a great sieve These holes are employed; for all three, fingers are ever may be the most appropriatename and ransacking 1 } my: membry;) !i n regular-rows,.and.in each is planted used as substitutes. The arm is ex- for the plant, should'not fill the find ij :waS trying to out wbattheTpl, : 'a young tar .and the earth packedfirmly tended to the great dish, the'fingersare bill exactly. ,As soon as my roots get to whjch, he,eferred. .But/to foq gh' : a, around,it. Water is.then l let in thrust into the mass, a portion of large enough to make a meal of I will i somewhat extensive,reader, ;oQhej,1it:. and.the pit becomes a,tank, or pool, I the spongy stuff is taken up and, with have the "gude wife" prepare ,thema ,' erature,of tr velind natural history;, 'when'1 he, 'farm'is: left to take care with1 an adroit turn, wound around la cannibal islands and report re- I.,could) not recall anyjJanfcbearinga} : : of itself. extremities of the digits and then sults. In the meantime cannot the name fill. resembling the bill ':coc:cocoanut/the which seeme -i { about ceased, to, think, .o f it, .until HBut:the-harvesting,is.,notall.done:: the taro'plant growing'in most ot the for,Bees. . saw the note pf ,Mr. Kearney ,in the j at one time; on,the contrary: it may Pacific archipelagoes. They are distinguished Editor Farmer and Fruit-Grower. : , DISPATCH of April 23d, giving t the be said'"neverto' come to an end*, andthis as,the lowland and the up- The statement by M*. Kech in jyour y botanical\.name as Col "asia,Esculertta, i js,perhaps;the _most,curious_ process land. The latter can be. cultivated, issue of April 23d.! that cassava,blooms .. which, it seems, i iscal, \ .d.CQcoJ' Hon" connected.. with, the cultivation, of without flooding with water." a source of. honeyis: .new'.and.inter- -< duras. The simple scientific .name the't taro. As stated above, the information in esting.' ,It adds another to the many threw a flood of lightlpnthesub'jectand "When ready for gathering, the the above article was obtained from'' notable reasons why this valuable , made ,known the fact the that proprietor: enters his patch at one cor-' an old sailor, and in turn obtained by plant should be extensively cultivated. plant for which Mr. Carson was.searching -, ncr and pulls up'as many'roots as may him during various periods of sojourn As Mr. K. ,says, "the root,is an excel- , was. the \yell-known faro, a';plant, be needed at the 'time. After'pulling among the Pacific Islands some fifty lent food for man and beast" It is which eversince the.days Captain them he'cuts off'the.;tops and'replantsthe fears 'ago. That the native methodof oneof the very best of foods, 'as I has been Cook, famous as furnishingthe :latter,' each in the hole out of eating the taro is still in vogue there have proved by experience, and the celebrated, poi dish; of ,the South which its root'has' been'taken. Day may be seen from an extract from Mrs.Brassey's wonder is that a thousand: times the Sea Islanders.; after day'he .this 'taking is Therecan repeats process, "Around the world 'in the present quantity not grown. , I have no, doubt but -would be the rows regularly'as they stand; Yacht Sunbeam:" "/to. is generallyeaten be but'one reason for its neglectand found a,valuable.addition' .toj the 'root until the whole, 'farm' h been gone from a bowl I placed between two that is ignorance of its many; val- '. crops pf Florida, and ;,1. ,have! in my over'and none of the'' original roots people, by dipping ''three fingers intoit uable qualities. Its ,growth is, 'however , garden; half a dozen plants, {procured remain. ; giving them a twirl around and then making considerable headway x, from Reasoner Brothers, .'which;;], am : "Of. course, considerable: time has sucking them. It sounds rather nasty, in this section. I got seed a few years experimenting with'to>eeifthey.: come elapsed since the first pulling, and the but as a matter of fact it is so glutinous ago and prize it more and .mort-high- up to the expectations formedof-them. o >then, ,replanted have gained fresh a mixture that you really only ly year by year. I have distributedit from previous readingS In'ray.callow roots -as'large as those of which they touch the particles that stick to your among my neighbors and now the , youth,"when I, was.ambitious of'enter* were' robbed ,The tops are fingers. The latter you wash after majority are growing it. The amore ing the fields of. literature,, 'my: first again divested of their radical appendages each mouthful, so there is nothing so they grow the more they appreciate it. . successful attempt in ,that :direction and again'replanted to 'produce very dreadful about it after,all." Have any:of your readers ''had* any was a short monograph onthe'; 'taro, fresh:'roots as before, and in this 'sue, think' the "Coco" mentioned as native experience in planting ,the 'caSsava based on information gleaned from)the, cessive:way is the planting and pulling of Cuba and Central America must "stumps?" I notice that most people ... after-supper'stories'!of' a:seafaring jpar-* repeated from season to season, and be the upland variety the taro plant throw them away and depend. upon ent;; I- described the:plant;> WIlts from year to year. '* *' mentioned above, as Chamber's Ency-- the stalk for seed, but, for'thei past mode of cultivation and ,the method( .. "The taro roots, 'when gathered, clopedia gives the Central American two or three years I have planted the of cooking,it,- in.vogue\ in the Tonga are not yet:ready for the table. They plant the title of 'Colocasia escuknta, stumps and secured a considerably Islands., As ,this'was the first article are-not' to be eaten raw -even' a'taste while the South Sea root is dubbedColocasiamofnrhiza. larger amount of tubers than from the of mine which appeared in print,-I. of them: in this condition 'causes' a Of the latter, it seed stalk. The plants start 'off with .' was naturally proud of ,it,-andlw en, sharp contraction of' the 'forces and a says: "It is the 'principal article of much more vigor. At first :I 'saved on,coming to ,Florida. Lsaw'the,plant puckering 'of the mouth, with a pungent food'' in the South Sea Islands. The the stumps as the cassava was dug advertised in Reasoner's catalogue,* 'I prickling sensation. roots are- 12 to 16 inches long and as from day to day and planted them 'determined: to get ,some'and- se ;how "There are two distinct processesby much in girth. They are washed to when I thought I had enough 'to be near my early :description'. came to which taro'is'prepared for eating. take away their acridity, which is suchas worth the while, but this year plant reality. I first wrote to the Reaspnersto One is by the' ordinary method of to'cause excoriation'of the' mouth. them within a, day or two from the ', see if the.plant' they/advertisedwas: peeling and 'boiling, 'as1! potatoes are They are cooked the same way as time they are dug. Before- the dan- really the South Sea article, :and;they. boiled. The boiling extracts the:poisonous breadfruit, the rind being first scrapedoff. ger was over from frost ,I :hoed a wrote"back as follow: ,fCctoasta 'Estu&tte -juices_and''renders them innoc A pleasant flour is made of taro. small mound of dirt over the'stub, re- > the 'genuine ;taro, perfectly uous., After being boiled the roots, Many'varieties_ are cultivated. The moving it at the first hoeing. .In this adapted to .Florida. 4Nbi ,danger' rof now t>f a 'fine, white mealy appearance leaves are used as spinach." Of the way any one who once ,gets,, a' start ,killing'it. out by frost;'flood< or drouth. ,- may''be:eaten' ,like yams. The Other'species it says : "Cocco, cocoa with cassava can always be sure: of a L ,Plant in rich,. moist'w .drained; l laid,. more general practice,. however, is to root, or eddoes..Generally cultiva- supply. The seed of the stump-set or.it will grow in'shallow-water; { mash them'into'a floury substance and ted in tropical l and sub-tropical coun plants ripened before the frost, 'whichwas x Later Mr. Hi. inforraedme that'' he make battercakes. 'them. ,to-be fried. ries for their roots or underground not the case with the plants from :propagated.them 'aftcj the manner of .When thus prepared'the taro root,may corms, which abound in starch. They the seed stalk.I saved a little.rof it potatoes; *: ./, by cutting up the loots. .easily be mistaken for,battercakes made are", sometimes included under the and regret now that I did not save Perhaps a few extracts. from -my'ownearly bfthe'best flour. name of yam, 'but are totally different more. Is it not probable that:cassava description may:'not be? ':.amiss: "Th 'above ,is the process. of 'preparation from the true yam:" might be improved, as' well as'other "4'In' shape, the' farir :'something I .in use.among the foreigners. I would say that the familiar Cala- plants, by continued selection'af seed? like the oblong turnip or beer toot,< 1* *> The ,nafive 'mode. ,of preparing dium, grown for ornamental purposes, Last year my first two plantings (on terminated abruptly; 'as if the smaller the'tarn altogether differentSo is a member the same family, and different plats of ,ground)' were cut end had been cut off..h is offs;brown; I far'as peeling,;boiling< .: , .. .;, .3It . A . VX .. J. .... + 6M :' "- .. ,