224 



another, — which, after all, is the most important point for the 

 consuming public to be made aware of, — are these : — 



Siveet Cassava. Bitter Cassava. 



Roots do not run so lai-ge, their Roots run very large, their skin 



skin is tliick and fibrous, and is thin, and nmst he peded off 



'peels off in flakes ; if gently like that of « yam or ■potato. 



broken while raw the tivo Broken raw the parts separate, 



2jarts remain hound, together being retained hy no central 



by a central ligneous fibre : fibre. Cannot be boiled soft 



Roasted or boiled soft, ilie or pulpy, and the central 



ligneous fibre is altvays jiresent ligneous fibre is ahvays absent 



in the centre of the root. from the centre of the root. 



The Rev. Mr. Moi'ton laises the question : " Does Sweet 

 CassaA^a ever become bitter?" and one of the letters informs us 

 that Mr. E. Francis (one of the former Government Analysts) 

 found prussic acid in the (skin) of the sweet cassava as well as in 

 the bitter. 



As to this, M. Renato de Gijosourdy in his Medico Botanico 

 Creollo (Paris, 1864,) states, that " he was assured that sometimes 

 when the plant v.^as in the floweiing or fruiting state the sweet 

 cassava roots turn poisonous, but others denied the fact." While, 

 as it is particularly at that stage that the roots become lipe for 

 use, and they are frequently eaten raw both by negroes and 

 Indians on the Spanish INIain, it would seem that the sweet cassava 

 is not in the habit of turning bitter, though very occasionally the 

 skin may contain a little prussic acid. 



I attribute this exception to the little known fact that 

 cassavas can be propagated from seed, and do so frequently unno- 

 ticed, and therefore are liable to hybridize. I have sometimes found 

 naturall}'' sown seedlings, and reared them from the seed in 

 Tobago m3^self. And this fact also may account for the large 

 number of varieties of both sweet and bitter cassava throughout 

 the West Indies, — not only two vai'ieties of the sweet, as Mr. 

 Morton mentions, but about a hundred vai^eties of each. 



It is a common complaint against the cassavas that they will 

 not keep, because, apparently, the simple and effective method of 

 simply slicing the skinned roots and drying them well on a platine, 

 or in an oven, is not generally known. According to Dr. Shier, 

 the dried slices after being soaked in water were almost as good 

 as the fresh roots. 



It would detain you too long if I went into any details of 

 cultivation and starch production, but I may mention that i 

 cassava ever becomes an article of staple cultivation, the oil from 

 the seed will no doubt become an important bye product. I 



