The Hawaiian gazette., 1903-02-06
THE ROOT ROT or TARO.

When a stranger III iie'""'
,ome nun on the word potato'
the angry Irishman replied that TO
tatoes was too sayrious a matter to JOKE
about" The Kanaka, also, "ouiu sec
a lack OF refinement and proprie'S III
any joke about taro.
prof T. F. Sedgwick has pnpiisheu'
under the supervision OF the eNPeII
ment station, of which Prof. Jared "
Smith has charge, most Vaiuapie
monopraph on the diseases OF the taro'
especially that called the rot. IL Is
the FIRST article published which scien-
tidcally treats of the diseases which
threaten this important food OF the ma
tiyes. and Of theAnglo-Saxons here VINO
have wisely discovered its great Vaiue'
II il one of the evidences of the value
of annexation that 1t has placed mere
men who are thoroughly capable OF
treating our agricultural problems, es-
pecially those which are not connected
with sugar production. We are, and
must be. always in the agony of de-
pending on the single string" Industry
of sugar making. until other agricui-
turaI resources are developed. AS
monarchy we did nothing. But the
strong breath of republican energy is
now upon us, and breathes into us the
air of a new life on the soil.
II is not necessary here to discuss
Prof. Sedgwicks valuable paper. 1t
should be read by those who take any
interest in the matter. Its pages are
we'll illustrated. The experiments made
in determining the nature and cure
of the rot are extremely practical
and far more intelligently made than
IL made by the hard working farmer"
who has no aptitude for such investi-
CATION. Prof. Sedgwick seems to have
reached one conclusion Of great value.
That lie, that the taro plant does best
and is usually free from the rot In rum
ming water. The natives use water,
but not in a manner to place all the
plants in active water. 1t is quite pos
sible that the methods OF irrigation
must be changed SO as to reach every
plant with the running stream.
Very little has been hitherto done in
the fertilization Of the taro patches.
The same soil has been used, in many
cases, for more than quarter OF a
century. The extreme backwardness or
it's cultivation is due to the fact that
only natives and Asiatics have been
engaged in it,
The high price of taro and poi may
have an important serious effect on the
native diet. The very fact that the su-
perb physical races of Polynesia have
grown up on taro and poi Is the best
evidence of it's value as food. Here are
races without dyspepsia, entire COM
munities without nervous prostration.
At a time Of life when so many of the
Teutonic race are buried in sanitariums
for treatment, Christian Science Is ex-
tending its domain OF grotesque illu-
sion, and the "pathics" are securing the
earth for remedies, here are and have
been these dark races rioting in the
solid comforts of taro and poi.
The high price of this article is driv-
ing the people to use flour in the form
of poi, mixed with the taro. 1t is said
that the natives like it. 1t is natural
enough that they should acquire taste
for the mixture. No one will claim
that the mixture is not good and whole
some food. But 1t may not produce the
good effects Of the plain poi
1t seems to be now well settled by
long experience that the taro Is excel
lent food for the white man in the
tropics. For children it is nearly per-
feet food. But the white man is gradu-
ally abandoning it's use and substitute
ing the foods of the temperate zone.
From a hygienic point of view this is an
error, but the white man prefers yet
to ''eat and drink and die" rather than
restrain his appetite and promote his
best health. A pessimist lately said
that with the plague has come the pie
into this Paradise. The early mission
aries were ravenously fond OF pies. but
the We're constrained to forego such
expensive food. and lived on taro, with
benefit TO themselves and their de-
scendants.