ordinary upland arable, or
in the dry season as a green crop in succession to rice.

A tuberous root (_Ocymum tuberosum_), an inhabitant of the hot plains,
is frequently cultivated in Java. It is small, round, and much
resembling in appearance the American potato, but has no great flavor.
Its local name is _kantang_.

CASSAVA OR MANIOC.

Of this plant, which is a shrub about six feet high, extensively grown
for its farinaceous root, there are several species, nearly all
natives of America, principally of Brazil, whence it derives one of
its common names of Manihot or Mandioc. Two species of Manihot have
been found indigenous in South Australia. The varieties commonly
cultivated for their roots, are the sweet and the bitter.

1. Sweet cassava (_Janiphi_ (or _Jatropha_,) _Loeflingii_, Kunth;
_Manihot Aipi_, of Pohl).--This species has a spindle-shaped root
brown externally, about six or seven ounces or more in weight, which
contains amylaceous matter, without any bitterness, and is used as
food, after being rasped and washed, so as to cleanse it from the
fibrous matter, in the same manner as arrowroot is prepared. It is
distinguished from the bitter cassava by a tough ligneous fibre, which
runs through the heart of the tuber. Manihot starch is sometimes
imported into Europe under the name of Brazilian arrowroot. The
cassava is known in Peru as _yucca_.

A dry mixed soil is best suited to its culture. So exhausting is this
crop, that it cannot be raised more than two or three times
successively on the same land. The roots arrive at maturity in eight
or nine months after planting, but may be kept in the ground a much
longer time without injury. Sweet cassava might be sliced, dried in
the sun, and sent to Europe in that state. In dry weather the process
succeeds remarkably well, and the dried slices keep for a considerable
time. Dr. Shier ascertained that when these sliced and dried roots
were first steeped and then boiled, they return to very nearly their
original condition, and make an excellent substitute for the potato.

The plant thrives on even the poorest soil; the mode of planting is
simple. It consists in laying cuttings a foot long in square pits a
foot deep, and covering them with mould, leaving the upper ends open.
From two to four pieces may be placed in each square. The planting
ought to be in the rainy season. The cuttings must be made from the
full-grown stem. A humid soil causes the root to decay,