298 Select Plants for Industrial Culture and 



of frost. Mr. Holtze, at Port Darwin, had the first grand success 

 with this plant in Australia, seeds from Kew-G-ardens having been 

 placed by the author at his disposal ; his plants attained a height of 

 12 feet in little more than a year. Perhaps the plant must be re- 

 garded as strictly tropical, and as then not admissible within the 

 scope of this work. Still near Port Curtis, at the verge of the tropics, 

 it grows fast and matures seeds ; the trees there already are over 

 20 feet high [Edgar]. In Ceylon it thrives well up to 3,000 feet 

 elevation, content with poor dry soil [Dr. Trimen] . Easily reared 

 from seeds or propagated from cuttings ; the germinating is expe- 

 dited by filing the shell of the seeds and placing them in coir ; when' 

 sprouting they should be put into the soil with the germ downward. 

 In Ceylon the plant has grown as much as 20-30 feet in two years ; 

 the plants should be placed about 10 feet apart. It is best to wait 

 with tapping till the trees are five years old [Keir Leitch]. 



Manihot utilissima, Pohl.* 



The Bitter Cassava or Tapioca-Plant. Eastern Brazil. Closely 

 allied to M. Aipi, producing varieties with roots of poisonous acridity 

 and with roots perfectly harmless. The tubers attain a length of 

 3 feet and a weight of 30 Ibs. Exceptionally 100 Ibs. of Cassava- 

 roots are obtained from a single stock. They can be converted into 

 bread or cakes, the volatile poison of the milky sap being removed 

 through pressing the grated root in first instance, the remaining 

 acridity being expelled by heat. The starch, heated in a moist state, 

 furnishes tapioca. Manihot is abundantly cultivated in many places, 

 thus at Caraccas, where the singularly uniform temperature through- 

 out the year is only 60 to 70 F. In Jamaica cultivated up to 

 4,000 feet [W. Fawcett]. Thrives well even in the vicissitudinous 

 clime of Central Australia. Both sorts of Cassava are also quite 

 suited for the sub-tropic country towards Port Curtis, where the 

 severest drought has very little effect on them, good tapioca being 

 made already in the district [Edgar]. Exceeds in productiveness 

 even the Sweet Potato. The roots can be left in the ground till 

 required, and they thus continue to grow. One-fourth of this 

 substance is starch, which is one of the best for cookery. It is a 

 very exhausting crop, and thus stands in peed of rich soil and copious 

 manuring. The propagation is effected by cuttings from the ligneous 

 part of the stem. The soil, destined for Cassava, must not be wet. 

 In warm countries the tubers are available in about eight months, 

 though they still continue to grow afterwards. The growth of the 

 plant upward is checked by breaking off the tops. The Bitter 

 Cassava is the more productive of the two. The yellowish tubers 

 do not become soft by boiling, like Aipi. 



Maranta arundinacea, Linn6. 



The True Arroroot-Plant, or more correctly " Aru-root," inasmuch 

 as Aru-Aru is the Brazilian word for flour, according to Martius. 

 West-Indies, Florida, Mexico to Brazil. The plant is introduced 



