The Celina Democrat. (Celina, O. [Ohio]) 1895-1921, 1910-05-20
Americans Could Live on That Sum
IL They Gould Stand the
Meals Served.
PLANTS WILL GROW IN THE U, S.
Ton and Half of "Aroids" Was
Harvested Last Year in
South Carolina.

When Americans learn to eat the
food OF the tropics they may live on 0
cents a day, says writer in the Los
Angeles Times, That men may liNe
at this cost and maintain heai'h ave
vigor is proven by the fact that mlt'
lions are doing It to-day That one OF
the cheap foods upon which theS
thrive may be grown throughout the
southern half OF the United States is
among the now revelations OF the De
partment Of Agriculture. That II VIII
stand shipment to the balance OF the
country IS also shown
A ton ana "a half OF this food was
last year harvested from sixth OF an
aoro In South Carolina. 1t will this
year be widely propagated and next
year there will be plants for distrl1u-
tion to a wide circle of eXperimenlers
The plants chat make this cheap liy.
ing possible in the tropic are the
arolds. one representative of which is
the elephants ear" with which
Americans are familiar as an orna-
mental plant II is one OF these arotds
which yields the poi Of The Hawaiians,
the melanga of the Cubans and tine O
Of the Panamans lautias, dasheeN
and various other plants somewhs
widely known belong to the same iau
ily. which Is called by a hundred di
ferent names in various parts OF the
world.
Roughly they are all aroids. They
grow in abundance in Central America,
South America, the West Indies, equa-
torial Africa, Malaysia, the Hawaiian
Islands, Japan and China In all
these countries the natives plant them
crudely in damp places and reap anun-
dant harvests. They prepare them for
eating in a hundred ways. They are
toothsome, uourishing, economical.
They far surpass many Of the eNpen-
sive foods OF this country and have
much that recommends them to the en-
tire world.
The aroids are root crops. They
are more nearly comparable with pota-
toes than with anything else we know
The tubers grow in clusters on the
roots of the plant They are often
larger than ones fist and are covered
with a somewhat rough skin. This
may however, easily be removed, or 1t
may be left on until after cooking The
tubers may be baked, boiled or fried.
Baking is probably the best method
of cooking them. They may be mash
ed and prepared with butter or milk
or eggs.
There are great numbers wherever
the elephants ear flourishes, but too
far north will not come to maturity.
There are many varieties and some of
these flourish much farther north than
others.
The aroids are wet land plants.
They thrive on lowlands that are
much flooded, provided the water does
not stagnate on them Their favorite
conditions are those under which pota-
toes would not thrive. Some varie-
ties grow well under conditions suit
able for rice.
There are in the south millions OF
acres that are lying idle because they
are too wet, and some Of these great
areas would be ideal lands upon which
to grow the aroids. They require lit
tie cultivation as compared with other
crops It IS because of this small la
bor demand that the crop has always
been so popular in the tropic, where
men are not given to overeXertion.