AEROWEOOT. 351 



well adapted for aiding the manufacture of arrowroot upon an 

 expeditious and economical plan. 



A simple method by which starch may be extracted from the 

 fecula with much purity consists in enclosing the flour in a muslin 

 bag and squeezing it with the fingers while submerged in clean 

 water, by which process the starch passes out in a state of white 

 powder and subsides. Two essential constituents of flour are 

 thus separated from each other ; a viscid substance remains in the 

 bag, which is called gluten, and the white powder deposited is 

 starch. 



The principal quarters from whence the supply is derived, are 

 the Bermudas, St. Vincent, Barbados and Grenada, in the West 

 Indies; Ceylon, and some other parts of the East and a few 

 of our settlements on the West coast of Africa. The annual 

 imports for home consumption average 500 tons. 



The cultivation of arrowroot for the production of starch in 

 St. Vincent has increased enormously of late years. In 1835, 

 the island produced 41,397 Ibs. ; in 1845 it exported 828,842 

 Ibs. The exports to 15th June, 1851, were, 2,934 barrels, 

 2,083 half barrels, 5,610 tins. The culture is year by year ex- 

 tending, and as, unlike that of the sugar cane, it may be carried 

 on on a small scale with very little outlay of capital, we may 

 reasonably anticipate a still further progressive extension for 

 some years to come. Arrowroot, when once established in virgin 

 soil, produces several crops with very little culture. In the first 

 half of 1851, 25,027 Ibs. were shipped from Montego Bay, Jamaica. 

 The quantity of arrowroot on which duty of Is. per cwt. was paid 

 in the six years ending 1840, was as follows : 



Cwts. Cwts. 



1835 .. .. 3,581 .. .. 1838 .. .. 2,538 



1836 .. ., 3,280 .. .. 1839 .. .. 2,264 



1837 .. .. 2,858 .. .. 1840 . .. 2,124 



The imports in the last few years have been in 



Cwt. Cwt: 



1847 .. .. 8,040 .. .. 1850 . .. 15,980 



1848 .. .-. 10,580 .. . 1851 .. 



1849 .. .. 9,252 .. .. About 500 cwt. are re-exported. 



East India arrowroot is procured in part from Curcuma angus- 

 tifolia, known locally as Tikoor in the East, and a similar kind of 

 starch is yielded by C. Zerumbet, C. rubescens, G. leucorhiza, and 

 Alpinia Galanga, the Gralangale root of commerce. (7. anyusti- 

 folia grows abundantly on the Malabar coast, and is cultivated 

 about the districts of Patna, Sagur and the south-west frontier, 

 Mysore, Vizigapatam, and Canjam, Cochin and Tellicherry. It 

 was discovered but a few years ago growing wild in the forests 

 extending from the banks of the Sona to Nugpore. 



The particles of East India arrowroot are very unequal in 

 size, but on the average are larger than those of West India 

 arrowroot. 



