18 



" Florida Despatch " showing the value placed upon it there as 

 a food for domestic animals and human beings, but no one in 

 Natal cares to give it a trial. When Mr. Bijoux, Curator of 

 the Botanic Gardens, Curepipe, Mauritius, visited Natal, 

 amongst other things that he brought for us were cuttings of 

 nine different varieties of this plant, all of which are growing 

 well, some of these varieties yield a large and coarse root, and 

 are used for feeding cattle and horses, others are used by the 

 labourers on the estates, while the finer varieties give a smaller 

 crop, but the roots are of a Superior quality, and are extensively 

 ueed by the planters, and I add here a description of the 

 manner of using them which I obtained from Mr. Bijoux, who 

 tells me that the plant is largely grown on nearly every Sugar 

 Estate in Mauritius. 



NOTES ON THE CULTIVATION OF " MANIOC " 

 ("MANIHOT UTILISSIMA.") 



This plant is largely grown at Mauritius, first for food, and 

 secondly for starch. It succeeds well in all kinds of soil, but 

 prefers a light sandy one. There is in Mauritius no particular 

 season for planting the cuttings, but they are planted all the 

 year round. When the plant reaches maturity the leave? turn 

 yellow and fall off, and this is the time to dig it. In no case 

 should the roots be dug for use if they have begun to grow, 

 because the starch has lost its properties and the roots become 

 watery. To uproot the plant, the stems are seized and gently 

 shaken, pulling them upwards until all the roots are out. The 

 roots are then cut off and the stems pat in a shady place to be 

 replanted in about a month's time. If immediately required to 

 extract the starch, or to eat the roots, they should be peeled, 

 the whole of the skin being removed. In no case should the root 

 be used without the skin being removed. To extract the starch 

 the cleaned roots are reduced on a rasp to a pulp, and then 

 allowed to drop into a large bath or pail, three-quarters filled 

 with water. The pulp is then pressed through a strong linen 

 cloth, with the addition of water, until all the starch has 

 passed through the cloth. The water with the starch is then 

 allowed to settle until all the starch has been deposited, and the 

 water becomes clear, which will be in about 24 hours, the 

 water is then gently poured off, and the starch is found at the 

 bottom of the vessel. It is then collected and laid upon clean 

 linen, or plank, till dry, when the starch is ready for market, 

 and 4 pounds of roots will yield about 1| pounds of starch. 

 When required to be made into biscuits, the pulp is simply 

 collected and pressed in a bag, and no water is put with it. 

 After 12 hours under the press, the pulp is removed from the 

 bag and placed in a basket in which clean linen has been 



