28 BULLETIN 123, U. S. DEPARTMENT OP AGRICULTURE. 



Cassava, or manihot, a semitropical plant used for food in the West 

 Indies, Central and South America, is now cultivated in Florida. 

 The roots are rich in starch. There are two principal types of the 

 plant, the bitter and the sweet. The first is commonly grown in the 

 Tropics and requires a longer season than the other, but produces a 

 greater yield. The bitter cassava grown in Brazil contains more of 

 the volatile poison found in this family of plants, but this is dis- 

 sipated by heat and the washing of the grated roots. The sweet 

 manihot is cultivated in some of the Southern States, but mainly for 

 starch to be used for finishing in textiles and in other industries. 

 From both varieties tapioca of various forms is made, as is also the 

 cassava bread which is so common in tropical countries, and which 

 is found in many city shops under the name of cassava cakes. 



Arrowroot is the fine starch obtained from various tropical roots, 

 and owes its name to the fact that the pounded roots were applied to 

 swellings for poisoned arrows. The best arrowroot comes from 

 Bermuda and the West Indies. In Europe it is popularly supposed 

 to be the most digestible form of starch, and is much used for in- 

 fants and invalids, as well as in fine puddings and similar dishes. In 

 the United States cornstarch, the " corn flour " of English cooks, is 

 more generally used. 



Sago may be properly studied in connection with tapioca, arrow- 

 root, and similar starches, as its use is very similar, but it is the 

 product, not of a root or tuber, but the pith of a palm tree. The 

 trees are cut and split ; then the starch is washed, dried, and granu- 

 lated. Fifteen years are required to grow a palm yielding 500 

 pounds of sago. The tree must be cut before blossoming. If time 

 permitted, it would be interesting to study other palms which yield 

 food products, especially the " cabbage palm " and those producing 

 coconuts. 



The principal food substance derived from all these underground 

 stems is the starch which has been thus stored up for the next genera- 

 tion of the plant's life. Starches from different plants or plant 

 parts differ in the form of the starch grain and can be identified by 

 the aid of the microscope, but from the culinary standpoint they are 

 practically interchangeable, and one form of starch may be substi- 

 tuted for another in nearly every case. The yam or a dish of rice 

 may be substituted for the potato as a vegetable, or starch from the 

 potato, or corn, or wheat, or rice may be used for thickening gravies 

 or making puddings, slight changes being made in proportions, 

 according to the expansive powers of each kind. 



Starch cookery is a very important subject. That starch may be 

 cooked it is essential that every starch grain be brought into con- 

 tact with water of at least 140° to 178° F. A careful study of starch 



