ANOTHER NEW FORAGE PLANT.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XLVII, Issue 5075, 26 May 1877, Page 2 (Supplement)

ANOTHER NEW FORAGE PLANT.

The introduction of a new and valuable food plant into the colony is an event which demands more than passing notice. Dr Sohomburgk has received by the mail from Dr Hooker, the Onrator of the Boyal Botanical Gardens at Sew, two bags of pods of the mesquitor screw bean of Arizona, with the view of attempting the cultivation of the plant in South* Australia, Of the commercial value of this product therp cannot be the slightest doubt. The attention of the Oolonial Office in England was first called to it by Mr Kirkwood of the Grown Lands Office, Toronto, and his letter was submitted to Dr Hooker by Earl Carnarvon. Dr Hooker was able to add some useful information with respect to the new plant, supported by the opinion of eminent American agriculturists. The screw bean is, we learn from copies of the documents with

which Dr Bohombqrgk bat favoured os, indigenous to New Mexico and Arisona, extensive provinces on the Pacific coast of southern North America. Although it has not vet been cultivated to any extent'in the United States, its excellent properties as a food plant are fully recognised. Lieutenant Whipple, when engaged on the South-Western Boundary Commission, testifies that the success of this expedition depended to a great extent upon this bean. According to his statement, it grows in arid districts, where no other similar plant will flourish. Not only to, but its product is very abundant. The beans grow In large clusters’ upon the tame stem, and the fruit ripening at different periods of the year,'the supply from one tree amounts to many bushels. The pods and seeds are rich in saccharine matter, and are greadily eaten by cattle and taorsea; in feet, it ia atated that but for it the mules and horses of Lieutenant Whipple's expedition, mutt inevitably have perished. For want of better food, the pods may also be eaten by men. The taste is sweetish and by no means unpleasant, while the nutritions qualities are of the first order. It appears that there ia more them one species of the plant known, although all are somewhat similar in their properties. That .at present brought to this Colony is styled the Prosopis pubescens. In addition to their value as food, these plants'also yield good timber and excellent gum. On these advantages Mr F. Kaiteyor, Treasurer of the Agricultural and Industrial Association of Western Texas, says “The screw beans grow from twenty to forty feet high and eighteen inches in thickness. In America tbe timber is chiefly used for the manufacture of charcoal and for fencing-poles. It has, however, alio been employed for ornamental work.” With respect to the gum, the same writer remarks : —“Mesquit gum is almost identical with gum arable, and has been used for medicinal and other technical- purposes, especially in the preparation of gam drops and jujube paste: It would seem now to have become to some extent pn article of export from the United States, for Mr Ealteyer states that about 24,0001bs were sent abroad in 1873. The habitat of the screw bean is, ae we have said, the arid elevated plateaux of Arizona and New Mexico, where scarcely any other vegetation oan be found. The. olimate of those regions is similar in many respects to that of the central districts of this colony. It would pppear, therefore, that there is every hope of the bean flourishing in our Northern plains. If this should prove to be the case, a quantity of land at present almost useless would become valuable as pasture, and flocks and herds could be reared where no cattle at present oan exist. We trust therefore that the attempt now being made by Dr Sohomburgk to raise tbe new plant will prove successful. Unfortunately a large proportion of the beans that have been sent to Dr Hooker are injured by weevils, it being, he states, very difficult to obtain pods free from the. attacks of those insects. Dr Sohomburgk, therefore, while he hopes to obtain a sufficient supply for experimental cultivation, will be unable to distribute any seeds this year. He is also anxious before distributing seeds to ascertain the conditions most favourable to the development of the plant, but he hopes next season to be able to ■end a supply to those desirous of cultivating the new. bean. Specimens of the produce of the plant have been left with us for the inspection of each as feel an interest la the subject.—Deader.