The Opelousas journal. [volume] (Opelousas, La.) 1868-1878, 1871-02-18
THE TANYAH.
(Calladium ESCulentum.)

Especial Correspondence of Our Home
~ Journal.]
This remarkable plant merits the
favorable attention ofevery Southern
planter, farmer and horticulturalist
Althou gh it has been long known
and highly appreciated by the plan
ters along the coasts of South Caro-
lima and Georgia, [ have met with
few persons in this State who had
ever heard of it. My own expert
ence in the use Of it extends through
about thirteen years, but it was du-
ring the late war when all the ne
cessaries Of life were procured with
difficulty, that its true character be-
came fully developed. During that
time the ingenuity of our wives
were greatly exercised in devising
dishes which were not merely palpa-
table and nutritious to the healthy
and the robust, but also appetizing
and tempting to the most capricious
and fastidious stomachs. Promi-
nent among these stood the Tanyah
in it's protean forms of batter cakes,
fritters, custards, pies, and puddings,
rivaling the famous English plum ;
in short it was a substitute for all
former luxuries, and [ formed such
an attachment for it that | can new
er tire of speaking it's praises.
l will now proceed to give a brief
description of the plant and it's prop
er cultivation and use. 1t is a bull
bous plant with leaf stocks spring
ing from the root and rising to the
height of from three to eight feet
on rich soil, and these stocks are
surmounted by leaves varying from
one to four feet long and from one
to three feet wide. The flower,
stock or scope is also radical and
supports flower which is a spathe
from ten inches to a foot long, en-
closes a spadix from five to six
inches long, and taking the stocks,
leaves and flowers all together, they
form a most beautiful spectacle; so
much so that no stranger on first
seeing them can pass without in
quiring what they are. The large
bulbs when dug and washed resem-
BILE cocoanut, but many of them
are larger and weigh from a half a
pound to four or five pounds. They
are frlner in consistence than the
potato, turnip or beet, and keep bet
ter than either, as they may be kept
in the ground all winter by throwing
a furrow with the plow over on
each side so as to cover the crown,
or they may be piled in the patch
and covered with a depth of three
to six inches of earth, according to
the degree oflatitude. This ismere-
ly to keep them from freezing, as
the rains of winter do not injure
them.
The small buds or offshoots must
be planted and they in turn form
the parent bulbs which soon mature
and throw offshoots, and thus a
large stool is formed which by the
time the frost kills the tops, will
make peck or more Of roots to the
hill. The hills should be planted
two feet apart in the row and the
rows on rich alluvial soil, shoVld be
about six feet apart. One great
advantage which they possess is
that they grow on low spots that
are too wet for corn or cotton,
and they flourish best In those
places, not that they require such
soil, but their endurance Of water
causes them to stand through an
overflow, and after the water goes
down they grow rapidly. On up
land they should be planted down
in the middles, after the bed is
formed and covered with four fur
rows. After they are up, hoe and
plow as you would any other crop,
remembering that the looser and
wider the bed, the greater will be
the yield, and that if you expect to
get crop without work, you will
be disappointed. Properly cultiva
ted they will yield from three to
five hundred barrels to the acre.
They may be planted as far north
as the sweet potato will flourish,
and may be yet put in the ground
any time from February to the mid
die of May, but they will not come
up until about the first of April,
however early they may be planted.
It has other uses also besides
ornament. By ea1thing up the
crown and leaf stock, as is practiced
with celery, the root when young,
and that portion of the stalk which
is bleached and tender, may be
cooked like asparagus and form a
dish equal or superior to that favo-
rite vegetable; in fact it resembles
in taste the burr artichoke more
than the asparagus.
The root itself may be prepared
for the table in a variety Of ways.
The most common method is to. boil
with the rind on like a beet, and
then slice and season with pepper,
salt and butter, and serve hot.
When thus boiled it should be in a
timed or enameled vessel, other.
wise the gallic acid of the rind act
ing on the iron OF the vessel will
blacken the liquor and discolor the
pulp. Another method is to peel
and slice before boiling, and boil
with meat as you would turnips,
and they then form a palatable and
nutritious diet. Or they may be