108 ON BITTER CASSAVA. 



while bitter cassava will yield as much as two tons and eight-tenths of a 

 ton. The potatoes termed Connatight cups yield thirteen and a quarter 

 tons of the tuber, corresponding to two tons and nine-tenths of a ton of 

 starch per acre. In this calculation I have assumed a yield of ten tons of 

 cassava per acre, which is about the average of different crops, if I am 

 correctly informed. In this respect, therefore, there would not be any 

 positive gain over potatoes, the material from which starch is manufactured 

 in Europe. The prices of the different starches will sufficiently corroborate 

 this fact. In the last Prices-current they are quoted — " Amylum pulv., 

 56s. per cwt. ; St Vincent arrowroot (ordinary), lOd. per lb. ; tapioca, 9d. 

 per lb." I remember having bought potato-starch (amylum), by the ton, 

 at the rate of 2d. per lb. This, however, may be ascribed to the super- 

 abundance of starch thrown into commerce during the prevalence of the 

 potato-disease ; — for diseased, frozen, and otherwise injured potatoes were, 

 at that time, thrown in abundance into the starch-factories. 



If, however, we could contrive, by some simple process, to convert the 

 whole of the cassava into a wholesome flour, as a substitute for wheaten 

 flour, we would then be able to produce from four and a half to five tons 

 of flour per acre, while wheat barely produces half a ton of flour on the 

 same area. This, therefore, is a question of the greatest economical impor- 

 tance for Jamaica, the solution of which is surrounded with many difficul- 

 ties. The manufacture of flour from starch-bearing roots, in order to be of 

 any benefit to the country and the manufacturer, would have to be worked 

 on a gigantic scale, and would have to rely on a steady supply of raw 

 material — a point on which any kind of manufacture is likely to be wrecked. 

 However, the solution of the question has its attractions, and has, there- 

 fore, been attempted with partial success. The flour which I have produced 

 is very fair both in colour and baking properties * but it has a slightly rancid 

 smell, which would greatly depreciate its value. The process by which it 

 was obtained is quite workable in this island. So far, then, the problem is 

 solved. 



As for the cassaripe, it amounts to about five and a half per cent, of 

 the root, analytically ; and an acre would, therefore, yield something more 

 than half a ton of it, could it be completely extracted on a large scale. 



The root of the bitter cassava is a beautiful tapering root, which, when 

 well cultivated, has an average weight of about a pound and a half in its 

 finest specimens. Its specific gravity was found between 1*124 and 1*158. 

 It consists of three distinct parts : 1st, the outer, rough cuticle, of dull 

 reddish-brown colour ; 2nd, a leathery, yellowish-white tunica, of about 

 one-sixteenth of an inch in thickness, immediately below the cuticle ; and 

 3rd, the fleshy kernel, or pre-eminently starch-bearing part, which is 

 beautifully and purely white. A root deprived of its cuticle and tunica, 

 and allowed to remain in a damp room, turns yellowish-green, then green, 

 and covers itself at last with a beautiful peach-coloured fungus, which very 

 much resembles that of yeast. 



The external portion, or cuticle, of the cassava root consists of areolar 



