March, 1912.] 



215 



Edible Products 



When a sufficient quantity for the 

 day's work has passed into the trough, 

 the farina is allowed to settle firmly, 

 and the water is gradually drawn off 

 through a series of taps till the farina 

 is left in a solid mass at the bottom. 



Now, it will be seen that the surface 

 of this mass is covered with a dirty 

 slime. This is washed off and is put 

 aside for pig food, as a certain amount 

 of farina is stirred up with it, and it 

 passes through a fine silk sieve into the 

 next trough, leaving the first one clear 

 for the following day's work. After 

 further skimming aud washing the now 

 almost clean product passes into the 

 circidar trough which runs right round 

 the building In this there is an 

 agitator, something like the paddle- 

 wheel of a steamer, which revolves and 

 thoroughly stirs up the whole mass. 



When the agitation has proceeded for 

 some time, the farina is once more 

 allowed to settle, and a final superficial 

 washing of the mass takes place. 



This process does away with all hand- 

 washing — in fact, from the time when 

 the bulbs are emptied from the drays 

 on to the carrier, they are not handled 

 in any way, except to cut off close 

 enough in the field. 



The farina is finally dug from the 

 circular trough, and is passed through 

 a centrifugal machine to extract all 

 possible moisture. It is then taken to 

 the drying gronud, whore it is exposed 

 to the sun on frames covered with calico. 

 Should a shower of rain fall upon it 

 whilst it is drying, the rainwater has 

 the singular effect of turning the 

 farina brown, when it has to be 

 rewashed. Hence the weather must be 

 carefully watched during the drying 

 process. After being thoroughly dried, 

 the farina, which is now brilliantly 

 white, is bagged and put up in various 

 forms for export. 



Most mills are constructed on the same 

 plan, aud the process is practically the 

 same in all. 



It may be interesting here to show 

 how the earliest arrowroot-growers 

 manufactured the faiiua. 



The bulbs were well washed, and all 

 roots pared off. Then they were grated 

 by hand on a grater made of part of a 

 keiosene tin punched full of holes, 

 whose ragged edges served to reduce the 

 bulbs to pulp. This was done over a 

 tub of water. Two or three other tubs 

 covered with calico were provided, and 

 the pulp and farina were separated by 

 working the hand round and round on 



the calico, water being poured over the 

 mass. The pulp, having been thus 

 separated, was sent to the pigs, and the 

 farina at the bottom of the first tub 

 was well stirred and the water poured 

 off, when the farina passed to the next 

 tub, aud so on for three or four wash- 

 ings, when the clean farina was dried on 

 calico frames. This process was neces- 

 sarily a very slow one, but, as arrow- 

 root was then worth Is. per lb., it was 

 very remunerative. 



The writer improved upon this by 

 constructing a primitive machine. 



A log about 2 ft. in diameter and 8 ft. 

 long was hollowed out by axe and adze 

 tc form a trough. At the head of this 

 trough was fixed a framework much like 

 the wooden stand of a grindstone. A 

 large wheel was then cut from a sound 

 log 3 ft. in diameter and 1 ft. wide. Tin 

 plates, turned into graters (which re- 

 quired frequent renewal) by punching 

 holes in them with a nail, were next 

 nailed on to the edge of the wheel, to 

 which a wooden axle and haudle were 

 fitted. The wheel, when placed in posi- 

 tion, turned in the water with which 

 the trough was filled. Above the wheel 

 was a wooden hopper from which the 

 bulbs dropped on to the wheel. This 

 wheel was easily turned by one man, 

 and the grated bulbs dropped into the 

 water in the shape of pulp and farina. 

 The latter gradually settled at the 

 bottom, and the pulp was removed by a 

 narrow-tined fork and by hand. After 

 a short interval to allow the farina to 

 settle down firmly, pegs were withdrawn 

 from the lower end of the trough and 

 the water drawn off. The farina was 

 then dug out of the bottom of the trough, 

 and was passed through calico stretched 

 over a tub. By hand-stirring and at the 

 same time pouring on clean water, the 

 whole of the farina passed through the 

 calico into the tub, leaving the gross 

 impurities behind. This operation was 

 repeated three or four times until the 

 arrowroot was perfectly white and free 

 from p.ny foreign substance. 



After the last washing, it was placed 

 on shallow trays or calico frames and 

 dried in the sun. The arrowroot at that 

 time (1863) was readily sold locally at Is. 

 per lb., and a small quantity sent to 

 London brought Is. 6d. per lb. 



Such a machine to-day would only 

 prove a source of loss to the grower, 



With the present up-to-date arrow- 

 root mills, the whole process — from the 

 digging; of the bulbs to the drying of the 

 prepared farina — occupies about twenty- 

 four hours, 



