MARKETS FOR CASSAVA MEAL. ' 29 



ami marketed to much better advantage, and that the cost of trans- 

 portation, which is one of the principal factors in the profitable pro- 

 duction of this crop, has been reduced one-half. 



MARKETS FOB CASSAVA MEAL. 



Ca.^ava meal can be marketed at a starch mill, and its preparation 

 by the farmer in that form would render one step in the milling unnec- 

 essary, namely, the grinding. If the meal is white, it would undoubt- 

 edly bring a good price in this market. 



An inquiry as to the use of starch in the textile industries brought 

 out the possibilit}^ of supplying this crude meal directly to such con- 

 cerns for use in making the lower grade of sizing mixtures. The meal 

 as prepared on the farm can be ground and bolted in any flour mill 

 and the flour thus prepared used in the making, of gums, pastes, etc. 

 Material prepared in this way was given a practical test by a firm which 

 makes large quantities of such pastes, and was classed with low-grade 

 tapioca starch, which sells at this time for about If cents a pound. 



A further commercial use for cassava meal would be for the manu- 

 f act ure of industrial alcohol. If the meal is to be prepared expressly 

 for this purpose, no special care is necessary in the drying, as the dis- 

 coloration resulting from continued drying would in no way affect its 

 value. Any grade that could not demand a good price for starch 

 manufacture would be suitable for alcohol production. 



Thus several distinct markets are already open for the sale of cassava 

 in the form of meal, whereas the fresh tubers are practically sold only 

 for starch making. 



The use of the meal as a stock food has not been sufficiently investi- 

 gated to warrant any authoritative statement on the subject. The 

 possibility of the meal prepared for cattle food becoming poisonous 

 through the cyanogenetic process was studied in the following manner: 

 Five hundred and forty grams of dry meal were treated with water 

 until it assumed approximately its original consistency. This mass 

 was distilled according to the usual method for estimating hydrocyanic 

 acid and only a trace was found. On this point attention is called to 

 the following observation:" 



Cassava meal had been prepared from two varieties, "sweet" and "bitter." The 

 samples were kept in sealed jars. When opened the "sweet " appeared to be good, 

 but the "bitter" was strong with the odor of hydrocyanic acid. Upon analysis it 

 was found to contain about 75 per cent of the amount found in raw and unprepared 

 "bitter" tubers. 



This work has not been repeated owing to the absence of "bitter" 

 tubers. It is, however, contrary to the supposition that hydrocyanic 

 acid is in a readily volatile form, in which case it would disappear in 

 the preparation of the meal. Then the method of estimation, while 



a St. Hill, Proceedings Agricultural Society, Trinidad, 1894. 



