•JAMAICA. 



BULLETIN 



OF THE 



BOTANICAL DEPARTMENT. 



Vol. IX. JUNE, 1902. Part 6. 



REPORT ON CASSAVA. 



Mr. Robert Thomson, to the Colonial Secretary. 



Halfway Tree, 26th April, 1902. 



Sir, 



"With reference to your letter dated 10th instant, requesting me to 

 furnish the Board of Agriculture with a report on the results of my 

 experiments with cassava, I accordingly have the honour to submit 

 the following remarks. 



The people of Jamaica are constantly reminded of the great advan- 

 tages accruing from the cultivation of innumerable " minor products." 

 I feel convinced that attention should be more exclusively confined to 

 a few of the more important products and to their adequate cultiva- 

 tion. Far better to have great fields of sugar-cane, of coffee, of cocoa 

 and bananas than a hundred species of insignificant minor products. 

 Hitherto cassava has been one of the>e minor products. Probably 

 throughout the Island there are altogether some 200 acres of cassava. 

 As this is indiscriminately cultivated, usually interspersed with other 

 products, it is not likely that the total value of the hap-hazard crops 

 would amount to £1,000 a year. 



But cassava cultivation in the island, under systematic cultivation, 

 is capable of ranking next to sugar and bananas in a few years time. 

 And from a remunerative point of view it is likely to surpass both. 

 Moreover this cultivation can be adopted with the utmost facility by 

 the peasantry. The importance of the inauguration and establishment 

 of this cultivation in Jamaica on a commercial scale cannot be over- 

 estimated. No other plant of equal value could be recommended to 

 form a new staple cultivation. 



This valuable plant attracted my attention many years ago in the 

 Republic of Colombia. In many parts of that country it is the staple 

 article of human food, this from several excellent varieties. Other 

 varieties are peculiarly rich in starch. The West India " bitter" 

 variety is unknown there, and probably if it were known it would be 

 discarded owing to the noxious principle its sap contains, namely, 

 hydrocyanic acid. Last year I introduced from widely separated 

 provinces of that country some 20 varieties which I have under cultiva- 

 tion here. They are at present in nursery beds, and are now fit to be 

 propagated to a considerable extent. As these have been grown in 



