51 



working on cassava tubers. A high-grade starch free from fibre and 

 dirt was produced and this should fetch anything from £15 to £20 a 

 ton wholesale. 



A modern plant which obviated the necessity of peeling the tubers by 

 hand would save £1 per ton in the cost of labour for making the starch. 

 A return of at least 20 per cent of stjrch equal to two tons per acre 

 should be obtainable. 



It would appear that in cassava starch we have a product that will 

 give us double the financial return per acre of sugar under ordinary 

 Jamaica conditions and at a cost of production so considerably'' less, that 

 there is that margin for profit without which no industry can be gene- 

 rally successful in this Island. 



Recommendations. 



The chief requirements for ensuring the success of the industry are 

 the following : — 



(1) Capital for installing the best plant for dealing with tubers so 



as to eliminate all unnecessary hand-labour and ensuring the 

 best product possible. 



(2) Lands of light texture in a district of moderate rainfall, capa- 



ble of being cultivated by implements and within easy reach 

 of the factory. 



(3) A good water-supply with a system of sand filtration and a 



covered tank for storing pure water. 



These conditions obtain on large areas of alluvial soil on the south 

 side of the island where bananas languish in an average season for lack 

 of water. A system of ' cassava farming' by the local peasantry should 

 be started in connection with each factory. 



Experiments to test the most profitable varieties and methods of 

 tillage, cultivation and management should be organised by the Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture. 



Analysis of Cassava Products from Longville. 

 Products. Moisture Total. Starch Total. Insoluble fibre. 



Starch A. 

 Starch B 

 Starch 0. 

 Styrch D. 

 Bitty 



Meal from 1 , _ „„ ^_ ^. „ ._ 



whok tubers } ^^'^^ ^5-70 2 45 



GRAPE VINE CULTURE. 



By Rev. William Griffith. * 



"Within recent years a great deal of attention has been directed to 

 grape-culture in Jamaica, principally, I believe, with a view to putting 

 good fruit on the American market at a time when not ordinarily ob- 



* Lecture delivered at the Agricultu ral Course for Elementary School Teach- 

 ers, January, 1904. 



