CASSAVA. 317 
grated, dried in the sun, and ground into powder. In this state it may be used for 
thickening soups, making gruel, and as an ingredient in puddings. 
Starch is made from cassava very much in the same way as from potatoes. The 
roots are rasped or grated to a fine pulp, mixed with water in a tub or vat and run 
through strainers to separate the solid particles from the milky liquid. This liquid 
is allowed to stand for some time and the starch settles at the bottom. The water is 
then drawn off without disturbing the sediment. Fresh water is poured upon this 
sediment and after vigorous stirring it is passed through a finer sieve, allowed once 
more to settle and the clear liquid drawn off. The starch is then spread out in thin 
layers and dried in the sun. Cassava will yield nearly double the percentage of 
starch obtained from an egual weight of potatoes,“and in a country like Guam, 
where potatoes will not grow and the climate and soil are well adapted for cassava, 
its culture can not fail to be profitable. It is now cultivated in Florida and other 
Southern States and factories have been established for the manufacture of cassava 
starch. The starch produced has been sold to cotton factories for sizing. For 
laundry purposes the starch is said to be better than that made from corn or pota- 
toes, ‘giving a smoother surface and a finer gloss than can be obtained by the use of 
either.’’ 6 
Tapioca is made by washing and peeling the roots, grating them to a fine pulp and 
expressing the milky juice. This is collected into a flat-bottomed tub or vat and 
allowed to stand for eight hours. A considerable quantity of very fine starch will 
be deposited. The clear liquid is carefully drawn off and the starch is spread upon 
wicker frames and dried for two or three hours in the sun. It is then placed upon 
sheets of tin or in flat iron pans and well stirred with an iron rod to prevent scorch- 
ing. The starch grains swell up and burst and become agglutinated together into 
small, irregular, transparent, jelly-like lumps, which harden on cooling, and which 
form the tapioca of commerce, one of the most important exports from Brazil. 
The roots of sweet cassava are much relished by cattle, horses, hogs, and poul- 
try. In a country like Guam, where animals are always kept confined and where 
food must be gathered for the majority of them, it would be profitable to raise cassava 
for forage. The greater part of the cassava grown in our Southern States is fed to 
animals, which are said to thrive on it much better than when confined to dry feed. 
It is less watery than potatoes, yams, sweet potatoes, or turnips, while its yield is 
much greater. The roots must be fed in a fresh condition, but they will keep for a long 
time if left undisturbed in the ground; so that during the periods of famine which inva- 
riably follow hurricanes in Guam, when nearly all vegetation and all crops are blasted 
and destroyed, they would be especially valuable. In the farmers’ bulletin already 
referred to ¢ cassava roots are specially recommended as food for milch cows and for 
fattening stock. It does not affect the flavor of the milk or butter and imparts a 
richer color to both. In feeding to cattle the roots are cut or broken into small 
pieces to prevent choking, but this is not necessary when feeding to horses or hogs. 
It is the custom of some farmers to crush the roots with a mallet before feeding, and 
as the fresh roots are crisp and brittle, this can be easily done. Others put them ina 
box and chop them with a spade. In feeding to hogs the animals are sometimes 
turned into the field and allowed to gather the crop for themselves. This, however, 
is wasteful. It is a good plan to turn hogs into a field where cassava has been grown 
and gathered, as many broken roots will be found remaining. Cassava is very fatten- 
ing. It is too carbonaceous to be fed exclusively to animals, and with it there 
should be some nitrogenous food to form bone and muscle. This is also the case 
aSee Wiley, The Manufacture of Starch from Potatoes and Cassava, U. 8. Dept. 
of Agr., Div. of Chemistry, Bull. No. 58, p. 44, 1900. 
bTracy, Cassava, U. 8. Dept. of Agr., Farmers’ Bull. No, 167, p, 31, 1903. 
¢Tracy, Idem., p. 24. 
