March 1908.] 



209 



Edible Products. 



form temperature should be maintained 

 throughout the voyage —Agricultural 

 Neivs, Vol. VI, December 28, 1907. 

 No. 148. 



THE INDUSTRIAL PROSPECTS OP 

 CASSAVA STARCH. 



Although cassava has been grown in 

 Jamaica from the earliest days of which 

 any record is obtainable, it is only re- 

 cently that its commanding merits as a 

 source of high-class starch have attracted 

 the attention of practical men. 



It is now admitted that cassava starch 

 has certain qualities that make it of 

 exceptional utility in the dressing of 

 cotton goods, and there is also reason to 

 believe that the quality of the cassava 

 starch producible in Jamaica is superior 

 to that obtained from the same plant 

 grown in the East Indies. 



When this industry first atti acted 

 attention in 1903, principally through 

 the efforts of Mr. J. W. Middleton, the 

 greatest uncertainty existed as to the 

 yields of tubers obtainable per acre and 

 to the content of starch to be expected 

 under the conditions obtaining in 

 Jamaica. 



The Chemical Department, therefore, 

 undertook a study of this matter, and 

 during the past three years a good deal 

 of information has been obtained. 



Starch manufacture has since been 

 started at three centres in Claiendon, 

 St. Ann, and St. Catherine, and we are 

 already in sight of defluite commercial 

 results with the new industry. 



The pioneers, as in all new undertak- 

 ings, gain experience in a somewhat 

 expensive school, and much work and 

 ingenuity are still required before the 

 industry can be placed on a sound and 

 economical basis. The prospects are, 

 however, most promising, and it is now 

 quite possible to state that the cassava 

 starch industry in Jamaica offers an 

 attractive investment of capital. 



YIELD OF TUBERS. 



The results of the tests of twenty-one 

 native varieties of cassava at Hope indi- 

 cate that under the conditions of a 

 moderate rainfall and a friable soil, very 

 large yields of tubers are obtainable. 

 At twelve months, a maximum yield of 

 10| tons rising to 15| tons at fifteen 

 months and of nearly 22 tons of tubers 

 per acre at twenty-one months has been 

 recorded. 



It is true that we could not expect to 

 reap from 100 acres at the rate obtain- 

 able from a small plot of T ' ff acre, and 

 that on a large scale these enormous 

 yields could hardly be expected as an 



average. At the same time, these results 

 indicate that a return of 10 tons of 

 tubers per acre should not be a difficult 

 matter to realize under good cultivation. 

 The indicated yield of starch per acre 

 rose from 3| tons at twelve months to 

 5h tons at fifteen months, and over 7 tons 

 of starch per acre at twenty-one months' 

 growth in these trials. 



As a starch producer, the cassava 

 should therefore take the highest place 

 among the economic plants of the world. 



MATURATION AND VARIETIES. 



Of the twenty-one local varieties of 

 cassava tested in our experiments, two 

 or three stood out as particularly proli- 

 fic. Our experience of cassava varieties 

 grown in Jamaica points very strongly 

 to the necessity of planters testing ail 

 the best kinds themselves, as the 

 greatest variations appear to exist in 

 the behaviour of the same variety of 

 cassava under different conditions of soil 

 and climate. 



As a rule, the variety grown by the 

 local peasantry will be found to be one 

 well suited to the district, and any 

 planter commencing the cultivation of 

 cassava on a large scale would do well to 

 study very closely the practices of the 

 small settlers in his district. 



He would then learn that it was neces- 

 sary to secure perfect drainage in the 

 soil zone in which the tubers are pro- 

 duced, and would avoid the serious mis- 

 take of planting cassava on stiff soil on 

 the flat, without any drainage ftt all. 

 Serious losses of tubers have already 

 occurred on some large cultivations 

 through the neglect of this first principal 

 of cassava cultivation. The resurrection 

 of a Jamaica Carib of the pre-Columbian 

 days would undoubtedly serve to give 

 the cassava planter of to-day useful 

 advice as to the successful cultivation of 

 a crop that was formerly grown all over 

 the island. 



At Hope, the best variety for harvest- 

 ing at twelve months' growth was found 

 in the local cassava 'grown in the district, 

 and known as 'white top.' This gave 

 10j tons of tubers, containing nearly 

 4 tons of starch, per acre. 



It would appear that in Jamaica along 

 period of growth is the most economical 

 basis for cassava cultivation, and that 

 quick returns and early maturing varie- 

 ties do not afford such a prospect of pro- 

 fit as the larger yields of varieties of 

 longer growth. The variety 'long leaf 

 blue bud,' was found superior to the 

 ' white top ' when allowed to grow for 

 fifteen months, yielding 15 tons of 

 tubers, containing 5 tons of starch, per 

 acre, while at twenty-one months 



