The Dahl Pea

A Substitute For Rice

From Our own Correspondent

Pt. Moresby, April 2.

IN recent discussions here on suitable substitutes for rice for feeding native labourers, attention has been drawn to the possibilities of the Dahl (or Dal) Pea, used extensively both in India and Egypt.

In Egypt, the plant (which lasts three years) has been known to yield 4,000 lb. to the acre in good soil. The crop is obtained in the first year, and the seeds can be used in the green state as well as when ripe. The pea is also largely cultivated in Jamaica and in Assam and other eastern countries, where it is used by the peasantry, in conjunction with other foodstuffs.

According to the well-known agricul tural authority, Mueller, there are two varieties—a small plant ripening in three to f our months, and a larger and more prolific variety, requiring longer to ripen, sometimes nine months.

Mr. Leo. Austen, Resident Magistrate at Daru, Western Papua, who has been cultivating the Dahl Pea for many years for his personal use, has suggested that at a time like this when the price of rice is on the upward grade, plantations could cut down the cost of native rations by growing a Dahl crop, Mr. Austen picks the pea as soon as it is fully grown, and then cooks it like an ordinary pea. For storing, the pea is picked as soon as the pods shows signs of turning yellow; it is then shelled and dried in the sun. Should the crop be left to dry on the shrub, it usually is attacked by weevils.

The variety Mr. Austen grows attains

a height of 9 ft., planted 9 to 10 ft. apart. After fruiting, the shrubs are pruned to within a couple of feet from the ground to allow for thicker growth for the following year’s crop.

Mr. Tom Flower, who a few years ago was a successful builder at Wau, New Guinea, has lately been travelling around Papua and New Guinea, making a close survey of timber resources. Mr. Flower appears to have entered in substantial fashion into the rapidly-developing tim ber industry of Papua and New Guinea