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Manihot aipi. (Sweet cassava ; cassava. Fig. 19.) A spurge 

 native of the tropics, largely cultivated in the West Indies, Centn 

 and South America, and to a less extent in Florida and California 

 It is a rapid grower, with rank, branching, erect stems four or rive 

 feet high, large, seven-parted, long-stalked leaves, and horizontal 

 fleshy roots or tubers three to five feet long and from one to tw< 

 and-a-half inches in diameter. It thrives in loose, dry, sand] 

 loams, and produces from 6,000 to 8,000 pounds of roots per acre 

 on soils of average fertility, to 10,000 or 20,000 pounds on fields that 

 have received a large amount of fertilizers. The roots are fe< 



19. Cassava (Manihot aipi.) 



whole or sliced to all kinds of stock. They contain 72 per cent, of 

 starch, 17 per cent, sugar and gum, and over three per cent, of 

 albuminoids. On account of the small amount of Mesh-formers con- 

 tained in the roots, they should be fed with some nitrogenous food 

 to make .ip the deficiency. Cassava is propagated by means of 

 cuttings of the stems, each piece having two or three eyes or buds. 

 These are planted in hills four feet apart each way, and the rows 

 rolled, to pack the earth around the cuttings and prevent their 

 drying out. The roots should be dug only as fast as they can be 

 used, as they rot very quickly when exposed to the air. 



