May 1908.J 



435 



Edible Products, 



in heaps in a shed and opened, the 

 contents being cast on an inclined piano 

 12 feet square, surrounded by a rim 2 

 inches high and there the sago now 

 massed together is broken up. The 

 first process to which it is subjected 

 is a thorough washing without which it 

 would remain impure and coloured. 

 For this purpose strong tubs are em- 

 ployed 12 inches deep, 40 inches dia- 

 meter at the top and 36 inches or more at 

 the bottom, bound by hoops, A coarse 

 cloth is fastened over the tub slack 

 enough to act as a strainer, the moist 

 sago poured into this strainer is broken 

 up by hand, and agitated until all its 

 fine particles pass through the cloth, 

 descend to the bottom of the tub, the 

 residue is thrown aside. Considerable 

 rapidity is acquired after practice. The 

 sago is next stirred for about an hour, 

 after which it is left to stand for 12 

 hours when the water is ladled out, 

 and the sago, which fills about half the 

 tub is removed to undergo the last 

 purifying process which precedes the 

 granulation. This is performed in a 

 simple manner, being an adaptation of 

 the mineral sluice box. Two tubs are 

 placed at a distance of 10 or 12 feet 

 from each other, and connected with 

 troughs raised by a framework above 

 them. These troughs are about ten 

 inches deep, 14 inches broad at the top 

 and 11 inches at the bottom, one end 

 being closed and the other open, fitted 

 with grooves in the sides and bottom 

 into which fit ripples | inch thick. The 

 end of a piece of cloth, the breadth of 

 the trough, being placed over the 

 groove at the bottom, the shortest of 

 the sticks is pressed down upon it, and 

 the cloth thus fastened, is made to 

 hang down over the end of the trough 

 into the tub below. The tub at the after- 

 end now receives the sago to about 

 two-thirds of its depth, when it is fill- 

 ed up nearly to the top with water. 

 The sago is now stirred until the water 

 attains a milky appearance, when it is 

 poured into the trough. To prevent it 

 falling abruptly an inclined piece of 

 wood, 8 inches broad, is fixed across the 

 trough so as to leave only a narrow slit 

 between it and the end of the trough. 

 The water poured on this descends into 

 the trough and slowly flowing to the 

 other end deposits a portion of the sago 

 in its progress. The suspended cloth 

 becoming saturated, serves at once to 

 maintain and equalize the overflow of 

 the water into the tub below. When 

 the water is poured in the first waves 

 advance rapidly and carry away much 

 of the sago but those that succeed de- 

 posit the greater part of their more solid 

 contents transporting into the tub only 



the lighter fibrous particles which it is 

 the object of this operation to separate 

 from the farina, and by the time the 

 operation has been repeated at another 

 trough the water flowing down the cloth 

 in the first has lost its whiteness. The 

 process is continued until the deposit 

 rises nearly to the level ot* the stick, 

 when the sago next to it, which gener- 

 ally contains some impure sediment, is 

 taken up in the fingers or thrown into 

 the tub. The second is now fixed above 

 the first, a fold of the cloth being inter- 

 posed between them to prevent any 

 liquid sago escaping through the seam, 

 and the operation goes on as before. 

 When the milk in the upper tub begins 

 to grow shallow it is again filled up 

 with water and more sago stirred up and 

 mixed with it. Daring the interval and 

 at other more prolonged interruptions, 

 the water in the troughs has had time 

 to deposit all its coutents, the last being 

 a fine fibrous matter, which if not run 

 over would leave a thin yellow layer. 

 The surface is therefore washed with 

 the hand until this layer is effaced aud 

 held in suspension. When the troughs 

 have gradually beeu filled up in this 

 manner described, by a succession of 

 deposits, aud the wall built up to the 

 top by the last stick the sago is left to 

 consolidate for 12 or 14 hours. The 

 fecula which passes out of the troughs in 

 the current is afterwards thrown into 

 one of the tubs, whose contents are to 

 be washed and deposited in their turn, 

 and *ome of it may pass through the 

 process many times before it sinks into 

 the trough. In order to give it the de- 

 gree of dryness required it is exposed for 

 one day in the sun in lumps one cubic 

 foot in size which are placed on tables 

 standing in the open air. Large mats 

 are kept in readiness to cover it if rain 

 falls. It is next taken into a large shed 

 and again pulverised after which it is 

 passed through a sieve 30 inches by 20 

 inches of which the bottom is formed 

 of parallel fibres from the stem of the 

 cocouut palm leaf kept in their position 

 by strings which cross them at distances 

 of about two inches. The lumps which 

 do not piss through are thrown back on 

 the heap. The next step is the pearling. 

 The sifted sago is placed in a cloth, of 

 which the ends are tied to a long stick, 

 and that is kept expanded in a bag 

 shape by a short cross stick. A hori- 

 zontal vibrating motion is given to this, 

 the whole mass being kept in constant 

 agitation and every part successively 

 driven along the sides of the bag. This 

 lasts for about a minute, when the now 

 granular sago is again passed through a 

 sieve similar to the preceding one, but 

 the smaller grains which pass through 



05 



