Mohave County miner., 1916-09-02
NO ELEPHANTS IN
 ARIzONA--DASHEENS

Because elephants do not live Tn Arizona, it is not necessarily true that elephant ears do not grow here. But when an elephant ear is a Dasheen- well, a correspondent has asked about
 growing Dasheens in Arizona. Das- heens are a group of plants of the penius Colocasia, belonging to the arid family, Araceae. These plants were formerly known botanically as Gala dium, and one of the commoner kinds of Dasheen is our old friends, the "ele- phant's ear," Caladium Esculentum. It is now known as Colocasia Esculen- tum. Probably as many as 100 vari- ties of DaSheens and Taros, the latter a very similar plant, are in cultivation in China, Japan, Hawaii and other of the older settled parts of the world. It is believed they have been cultivat- ed in China for thousands of years. The leaves of this plant are very large, often 2-4 feet long, and suggest an elephants ear. This plant is much grown in gardens as an ornamental, on account of it's fine foliage. Das- heens are plants native of the tropics, They require rather good soil with an abundance of irrigation, particularly the latter, and once established many of the varieties will thrive in mud and water. Under favorable conditions they produce heavy crops of tubers. The plants will not grow during the winter season and the tubers must be dug in the fall and kept dry and away from frost. They should be planted in the spring as soon as danger from frost is over, since they require about six months to complete their growth. For convenience in handling and cul- tivation they should be set in rows three or four feet apart, and about the same distance in the row. In drier soils, three feet is sufficient. Both the tubers and sections of the old root stock or rhizones of sufficient size to bear two buds may be used in plant ing. In planting, the tip of the cylin- der of old petioles is left just above the surface of the ground. The land should not be so wet as to have stag nant water standing in the holes at planting time, as this may cause the rhizomos to rot. Sour soils, likewise, are injurious to young plants. After growth begins, it is desirable to have an abundance of water in the soil, in fact, irrigation every day would not be too much. Insect and fungas enc mics of Dasheens are few, and in growing little fertilizer is required.
 Dasheens are harvested by hand pulling along with the use of a pick and shovel. The plants as dug may be thrown in piles and allowed to dry be- fore being removed from the field. The young leaves of the commoner Das- heens are boiled and eaten as salads and greens. The boiled tubers have a chestnut flavor. It is stated by one writer that the Dasheens is very pun gent and should not be tasted until boiled. If tasted by accident, olive oil will give relief. The large starchy | tubers of Dasheen are much eaten by | the Japanese and Chinese as we eat | potatoes. With some of the varieties, the tubers are dried and ground into meal for stock. Alcohol is prepared | from some kinds of Dasheen which have many small tubers.
 Taros and Dasheens are suitable for | growing on land that is wet and can not easily be cultivated. Under our conditions the common elephants ear, one of the Dasheens, does best in rich soil. It should be ir- rigated heavily every second or third day, and after it is well established it will grow even in standing water Some years ago a patch of these plants was grown successfully at old Fort Lowell, near Tucson, Arizona, in one of the Chinese gardens there. These plants made a luxuriant and healthy growth and yielded a good crop of tubers. At times water stood on the land for days and at maturity the plants were five and six feet tall.
 Persons interested in Dasheens and Taros should write to the Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. C., for Bulletin 164, Bulletin of Plant Indus try, on Dasheen growing. Tubers of Dasheens for growing may be pur- chased fro mseed houses. -J. J. Botanist, University of Ari- ' zona Agricultural Extension Station. ;
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