CASSAVA. 



317 



grated, dried in tlie sun, and ground into powder. In this state it may be used for 

 thickening soups, making gruel, and as an ingredient in puddings. 



Starch is made from cassava very much in the same way as from potatoes. The 

 roots are rasped or grated to a fine pulp, mixed with water in a tub or vat and run 

 through strainers to separate the solid particles from the milky liquid. This liquid 

 is allowed to stand for some time and the starch settles at the bottom. The water is 

 then drawn oft without disturbing the sediment. Fresh water is poured upon this 

 sediment and after vigorous stirring it is passed through a finer sieve, allowed once 

 more to settle and the clear liquid drawn off. The starch is then spread out in thin 

 layers and dried in the sun. Cassava will yield nearly double the percentage of 

 starch obtained from an equal weight of potatoes," and in a country like Guam, 

 where potatoes will not grow and the climate and soil are well adapted for cassava, 

 its culture can not fail to be profitable. It is now cultiAated in Florida and other 

 Southern States and factories have been established for the manufacture of cassava 

 starch. The starch produced has been sold to cotton factories for sizing. For 

 laundry purposes the starch is said to be better than that made from corn or pota- 

 toes, "giving a smoother surface and"a finer gloss than can be obtained by the use of 

 either." l> 



Tapioca is made by washing and peeling the roots, grating them to a fine pulp and 

 expressing the milky juice. This is collected into a fiat-bottomed tub or vat and 

 allowed to stand for eight hours. A considerable quantity of very fine starch will 

 be deposited. The clear liquid is carefully drawn off and the starch is spread upon 

 wicker frames and dried for two or three hours in the sun. It is then placed upon 

 sheets of tin or in flat iron pans and well stirred with an iron rod to prevent scorch- 

 ing. The starch grains swell up and burst and become agglutinated together into 

 small, irregular, transparent, jelly-like lumps, which harden on cooling, and which 

 form the tapioca of commerce, one of the most important exports from Brazil. 



The roots of sweet caasava are much relished by cattle, horses, hogs, and poul- 

 try. In a country like Guam, where animals are always kept confined and where 

 food must be gathered for the majority of them, it would be profitable to raise cassava 

 for forage. The greater part of the cassava grown in our Southern States is fed to 

 animals, which are said to thrive on it much better than when confined to dry feed. 

 It is less watery than potatoes, yams, sweet potatoes, or turnips, while its yield is 

 much greater. The roots must be fed in a fresh condition, but they will keep for a long 

 time if left undisturbed in the ground; so that during the periods of famine which inva- 

 riably follow hurricanes in Guam, when nearly all vegetation and all crops are blasted 

 and destroyed, they would be especially valuable. In the fanners' bulletin already 

 referred to <•' cassava roots are specially recommended as food for milch cows and for 

 fattening stock. It does not affect the flavor of the milk or butter and imparts a 

 richer color to both. In feeding to cattle the roots are cut or broken into small 

 pieces to prevent choking, but this is not necessary when feeding to horses or hogs. 

 It is the custom of some farmers to crush the roots with a mallet before feeding, and 

 as the fresh roots are crisp and brittle, this can be easily done. Others put them in a 

 box and chop them with a sp&de. In feeding to hogs the animals are sometimes 

 turned into the field and allowed to gather the crop for themselves. This, however, 

 is wasteful. It is a good plan to turn hogs into a field where cassava has been grown 

 and gathered, as many broken roots will be found remaining. Cassava is very fatten- 

 ing. It is too carbonaceous to be fed exclusively to animals, and with it there 

 should be some nitrogenous food to form bone and muscle. This is also the case 



"See Wiley, The Manufacture of Starch from Potatoes and Cassava, U. S. Dept. 

 of Agr., Div. of Chemistry, Bull. No. 58, p. 44, 1900. 

 f-Tracy, Cassava, U. S. Dept. of Agr., Farmers' Bull. No. 167, p. 31, 1903. 

 «Tracy, Idem., p. 24. 



