AREOWROOT. 



345 



as on the estates of proprietors, the crushing of the root and the 

 reducing it to a pulp are effected by simple and cheap machinery (a 

 wheel and rollers) worked by water. The arrowroot is dried under 

 sheds. Little or no use is at present made of the pulp after the 

 extraction of the starch by lixiviation, but probably a serviceable 

 paper might be made of it at a trifling cost. 



In St. Kitts arrowroot and tons les mois are produced to some small 

 extent. In 1850, 95,460 lbs. were shipped ; in 1860, 35,128 lbs. ; and 

 in 1870, 13,268 lbs. were received from thence in the United Kingdom. 



*S^^. Vincent. — The amount of arrowroot exported from this island is 

 now about 2,000,000 lbs. ; in 1847 the quantity shipped was only 

 297,587 lbs. ; and in 1851, 490,837 lbs. 



Many circumstances have promoted this increased culture. When 

 it began the price of the article was high, and the grower obtained a 

 largely remunerative profit ; its culture was not laborious ; it was 

 subject to few risks ; it did not, for its success, require rich land or 

 much manure ; there was a constant and increasing demand for it ; 

 and in consequence of the abundance of pure water, great facilities 

 were afforded for the manufacture, and that by a process so simple, 

 easy, and cheap, as to require little skill in conducting it, and scarcely 

 any capital. 



St. Vincent is the only arrowroot-producing colony that has kept 

 steadily progressive, as the following figures will show. There will 

 necessarily be slight fluctuations in the out-turn, according to season, 

 &c. From 1850 to 1854 the quantity made in the island ranged from 

 350,000 to 550,000 lbs., but of late years the production has often 

 reached 2,250,000 lbs. In 1850 the shipments were 3573 barrels 

 and 7493 boxes, valued at 15,864Z. The value of the shipments in 

 the three years ending 1870 was a little over 17,300Z. per annum. 



Of late there has been a steady increase in the production, so that 

 instead of the stationary figure of 7500 barrels, at which the exports 

 kept from 1860 to 1865, they have risen above the large shipment of 

 10,000 barrels in 1859. In 1867 and 1868 the average export was 

 12,000 barrels ; in 1866, it rose as high as 14,645 barrels ; in 1869, 

 to 11.226 barrels, being a decrease on the previous year of 422 barrels; 

 in 1870 the shipments were 10,438 barrels. 



Barbados, Antigua, Montserrat, and Tortola used to produce arrow- 

 root for shipment, but have given up the manufacture. 



On many parts of the West African coast arrowroot is grown and 

 prepared. The Canary Islands, Liberia, Lagos, Sierra Leone, and 

 other districts produce it, but not in any quantity for shipment. 



Culture in Natal. — The cultivation and manufacture of arrowroot 

 has been very largely carried on in Natal for many years. It was a 

 great favourite with early colonists, because it grows readily on 

 coast lands unsuited for sugar and coffee. Its cultivation requires 

 only a moderate capital, and yields quick and good returns. The root 

 may be grown many years in succession in the same ground. 



The land to be planted is well ploughed and broken up at the com- 

 mencement of the rains : old ground is better than new. The sets are 

 taken from old stools, planted thickly in a simple plough furrow, and 

 covered over with earth turned out of a parallel furrow. 



