OCTOBER) 1908.] 



375 



Miscellaneous- 



planted standing vertically or on a slope. 

 These are covered with buds which 

 rapidly come out and give rise to stems. 

 Often these are pruned down to three. 

 They grow to a height of 5-10 feet, and 

 the roots swell out into the large tubers, 

 which may be as many as 6 on a plant, 

 18 inches long, and 20 lbs. in weight, 

 though smaller figures than these are 

 the rule. Sweet cassava gives smaller 

 returns than bitter. 



The tubers are ripe for gathering in 

 about 6-12 months. Natives often leave 

 them too long in the ground. An aver- 

 age good yield is said to be 10 tons an 

 acre, but smaller figures are probably 

 commoner. Wild pigs are often very 

 troublesome (as they are to Ceara rubber) 

 by digging up the tubers. 



The tubers having been gathered 

 should at once be put through whatever 

 process it is intended to subject them to, 

 as they undergo various changes. 

 Hydrocyanic acid is said to develop to a 

 greater extent after they are dug up. 

 There is in any case so much of this 

 poison in the bitter variety that it is 

 extremely dangerous to eat it till it has 

 been boiled, or better, roasted. The 

 sweet variety contains the acid mainly 

 in the rind, which must be taken off, 

 but is said to develop it in the inner 

 parts as soon as dug up. 



The valuable constituent of the 

 root is the starch, which may be used in 

 various ways. The roots may be eaten 

 like yams, as is done in Ceylon and else- 

 where ; starch (cassava starch or Brazili- 

 an arrowroot) may be made directly 

 from them, or the starch may be made 

 into tapioca; or the roots may be cut 

 and dried in slices, and exported to 

 Europe, where the starch is prepared ; 

 or finally they may be made into glucose. 



It would lead too far to go into the 

 details of all these processes. The manu- 

 facture of tapioca will be described in a 

 circular to issue in a few days from my 

 Department. The history of this manu- 

 facture is interesting. Until some time 

 ago it was in the hands of Chinese, who 

 made the tapioca in a very primitive 

 way. Then Europeans took it up and 

 successfully competed with the Chinese, 

 and finally Chinese capitalists took up 

 the European methods and machinery. 



The manufacture of the actual starch 

 requires capital, and in making it Ceylon 

 would have to meet the competition of 

 the United State3 with good machinery 

 and skilled labour. 



The remaining way is the one which I 

 would recommend for Ceylon, viz., the 



making of sliced and dried cassava root. 

 The root should be cut into slices about 

 | inch thick, and dried in the sun on 

 mats, care being taken to keep off dust. 

 For this there is a good market in 

 Europe among calico printers and others, 

 and 1 would recommend that the Society 

 experiment with a trial consignment. 



PROGRESS REPORT XLI. 



Membership.— The last meeting was 

 held on August 3, since when the follow- 

 ing new members have been enrolled : — 

 Capt. T. Montgomery (Fiji), C. J. 

 Marzetti, J. B. Ratnayake, W. A. Asher, 

 C. F. S. Jayawickreme, J. Coryton 

 Roberts. 



Inspection Tours, — The organizing 

 Vice-President and the Secretary have 

 since last meeting visited Jaffna, Balalla, 

 and Pilessa. Dr Willis also visited 

 Mahailluppalama, and Mr. Drieberg 

 Lower Dumbara and Nuwara Eliya 

 districts. Mr. Wickremeratne, Agricul- 

 tural Instructor, has been in Uva and 

 Katugampola hatpattu, and Mr. L. A. D. 

 Silva, Agricultural Instructor, in Sabara- 

 gamuwa and the Ambalangoda district, 

 and Mr. S. Chelliah, Agricultural In- 

 structor, in Uduppiddi, Valveddi, Karana- 

 vavay including Ilakamam, Tanakkara- 

 kurichchi including Kalluvam, Kerudavil, 

 and Tondamannar districts. 



Branch Societies.— The Wellaboda 

 pattu (Galle) Branch held a meeting of 

 the Working Committee on August 22, 

 when a paper on the "Co-operative 

 Bank System carried on locally with 

 income derived from Coconut Trees " 

 was read by Mr. t C. D, S. Wickrema- 

 suriya, It was resolved to obtain per- 

 mission from the District Road Com- 

 mittee to use Ambalangoda resthouse 

 compound for holding the next Show in 

 December, on a date to be fixed later, 

 and to ask for the services of an Agricul- 

 tural Instructor to hold demonstrations 

 and give instructions in the method of 

 transplanting paddy. 



The Dumbara Association held a 

 meeting on July 30. It was resolved to 

 send tobacco, arecanuts, and cardamoms 

 to the Mysore Dassara Exhibition to be 

 held in October ; to amalgamate the 

 funds of the Society with those of the 

 Co-operative Credit Society, so that 

 more funds may be available for the 

 purpose of lending ; to inquire from the 

 Secretary, Ceylon Agricultural Society, 

 on what terms Government will be pre- 

 pared to lend the services of a tobacco 



