Edible Products. 



30 



[July, 1908. 



sells at a different rate, the peaberry 

 generally commanding the best price on 

 the London market. 



The coffee is sewn up in double sacks, 

 printed with the name of the works that 

 send it out, and despatched Home in 

 one of the many cargo boats 'in which 

 exports from the Malabar Coast are 

 shipped to other lands across the sea. — 

 Indian Agriculturist, Vol. XXXIII., 

 No. 4, April, 1908. 



CASSAVA ROOTS AND STARCH 

 MANUFACTURE. 



A pamphlet (Bulletin No. 106 of the 

 Bureau of Chemistry) has been issued 

 by the U.S. Department of Agriculture 

 dealing with the properties and uses of 

 cassava. 



Apart from food purposes one of the 

 chief uses of cassava is in the manufac- 

 ture of starch. It will be remembered 

 that cassava starch manufacture has 

 been on trial in Jamaica for some time 

 past (Agricultural News. Vol. V., p. 410), 

 and it is now being produced at three 

 centres. This starch is of considerable 

 value, and if well made, commands a 

 price of from £15 to £10 on the English 

 market. In the trials carried out at 

 Hope Gardens to ascertain the starch- 

 yielding values of different cassavas, a 

 return of four tons of starch per acre was 

 obtained, after twelve months' growth, 

 from the best varieties. 



Since cassava tubers deteriorate rapid- 

 ly on being harvested, it is advisable, 

 when intended for starch manufacture, 

 that they should be grown as near the 

 mill as possible. The grower who lives 

 in close proximity to the factory is 

 therefore at au advantage as compared 

 with the grower who lives at a distance. 

 Some practical method of treatment of 

 the roots which would do away with 

 the necessity of immediate utilization 

 would confer a great benefit upon cas-. 

 sava cultivators, and experiments of 

 this kind undertaken by the U.S. Depart- 

 ment of Agricultivre, are described in 

 the pamphlet. 



Briefly, these experiments consisted of 

 grinding the tubers to a fine meal and 

 drying in the sun. The cassava, meal so 

 prepared is reported to have kept for 

 eight months without signs of deterior- 

 ation. This means that the product can 

 be stored and marketed to much better 

 advantage, while owing to the great 

 decrease in weight (about 50 per cent.), 

 as the result of moisture evaporation on 

 drying, the cost of transport is reduced 

 by one-half. 



The mill used in grinding the roots 

 was of very simple construction, and 

 cost complete no more than $10. Such a 

 machine would therefore be within the 

 reach of growers producing cassava on 

 only a small scale. It ground one ton of 

 tubers in one and a half hours. 



The drying trays used in exposing the 

 ground cassava to the sun, in order to 

 evaporate the moisture, consisted of a 

 wooden framework with a canvas bot- 

 tom. They were 5 feet long by 2\ feet 

 broad, and were made very cheaply. 

 The cassava meal was occasionally 

 stirred in the process of drying. 



Should the cassava starch industry of 

 Jamaica develop, as it sIioavs every pro- 

 mise of doing, the above method of 

 preparation and preservation might be 

 worthy of adoption by growers in cer- 

 tain parts. In the West Indies it would 

 be possible to completely dry and bag 

 the cassava meal ou the same day as 

 the roots were around.— Agricultural 

 News, Vol. VII., No. 151, March 21, 1908. 



RESULTS OF THE RECENT EX- 

 PERIMENTS WITH CACAO IN THE 

 WEST INDIES. 



Grenada . 



The following paper on the results of 

 plot experiments with cacao in Grenada 

 has been prepared by Mr. R. D. 

 Anstead, b.a., Agricultural Superinten- 

 dent, Grenada:— 



In Grenada, experiment plots of cacao 

 are of two kinds, distinguished for the 

 sake of reference, by the terms ' experi- 

 ment plots' and 'experiment stations.' 



The experiment plots, as was explained 

 at the last Agricultural Conference 

 (West Indian Bulletin, Vol. VI, p. 66), 

 are each about one acre in extent and 

 are chosen from land, near the public 

 roads, belonging to peasant proprietors. 



The experiments carried out upon 

 these plots are conducted by the Im- 

 perial Department and are designed to 

 run for three years, the cost of them 

 being defrayed from Imperial funds. 



One series of these plots has completed 

 its three-year course, and at present a 

 fresh series, chosen on the plan but in 

 different localities, is nearing the end 

 of the first year. 



The results obtained by means of 

 these plots are highly satisfactory. The 

 Agricultural Instructor uses them as a 

 rendezvous when he is in the district, 

 and as demonstration plots. Here he is 



