SCITAMINEJU. 4o7 



and to water tliem occasionally during tlie dry season. The 

 removal of the crop is tedious unless the tubers can be ploughed 

 out, as potatoes are in England, Avhich is seldom possible, OAving 

 to the dryness of the soil. The flour can be sold profitably at 

 four annas per pound, and at this rate Rs. 400 per acre could be 

 realized." 



Mr. Hamilton, F.C.S., to whom samples of the starch were 

 submitted^ reported that the mucilage yielded by a sample 

 marked ^'Ist sort" was nearly as good as that of Maruuta 

 arrowroot, but that the sample when soaked m cold water gave 

 indications of the presence of slight acidity, and also contained a 

 small proportion of soluble starch. He suggested the avoidance 

 of unnecessary exposure to the sun, and the addition of ^ an 

 ounce per gallon of caustic soda to the water used in steeping the 

 pulped roots. All the samples sent to him contained extraneous 

 matters, black particles, straw, &o., introduced during the 

 process of drying, which, it is hardly necessary to say, would 

 render the article unsaleable in Europe. 



Curcuma arrowroot is inferior in colour to Maranta arrow- 

 root; under the microscope it may differ greatly in appoarance, 

 as the starch grains of diffei^eut species of Curcuma are variable 

 in size and shape. 



Commercc—^Ladrds in 1869-70 exported 3,729 cwts. of 

 Curcuma arrowroot, A^aluei at Rs. 14,1-32. In Bombay "Mala- 

 bar Arrowroot " fetches from Rs. 3 to Rs. 4 per maund of 2S Ib^. 



CURCUMA LONGA, Limn 



pig^—Benfh and Trim., t 269 ; Uheede, Hod, Mai H., 



i. 11. Turmeric {Eng.), Curcuma, Souchet des Indes, Safran 

 des Indes {Fi\\ 



Hab. — Parasnathin Behar, Cultivated elsewhere. The 



tubers. 



Veniacula}\--'\li\\A\, Haldar, Halja {Ilhul)^ ITalad {Ben(/ , 

 Mar., Gnz\ Manjal {Tanu), Pasapu {Tel), Mannal, Marinalu 

 (J/u/.), Arishina [Can,). 



