Edible Products. 



23fi 



[March, 1909. 



than the white, viscous, odoriferous 

 pulque of the Apam district— which aloue 

 pleases the adept. 



Considerable medicinal virtue has been 

 claimed for pulque, and some efforts 

 have been made to specially prepare, 

 bottle, and pasteurise it for medicinal or 

 even table use ; but, except in the region 

 of its production, where it is the com- 

 mon beverage, the bulk of it is used as an 

 intoxicant, pure and simple. From it is 

 also produced a rather small quantity of 

 distilled liquor—" mezcal de pulque. " 



Mezcal is a term applied comprehen- 

 sively to the liquor obtained by distil- 

 lation from the fermented juices of 

 agaves. Four or five million gallons of 

 it a year are produced, and its value may 

 amount to some 2,000,000 dollars. The 

 centre for the manufactue of this be- 

 verage is to the west of Gudalajara, and 

 the town of Tequila, situated there, has 

 given its name to the higher grade of 

 liquor, which is clear, smoky, rather- 

 smooth, and with a characteristic essen- 

 tial flavour; it usually contains 40 or 

 50 per cent, of alcohol, and, like pulque, 

 possesses certain mediciual properties. 



Mezcal is sold cheaply. It is to be found 

 everywhere, and contributes largely to 

 the demoralisation of the native labour- 

 ers, who often drink it to excess. 



To supply the distilleries at Tequila, a 

 considerable acreage is planted to mezcal 

 agaves. Those chiefly used for the pur- 

 pose belong to a well-marked, narrow- 

 leaved species, which a few years ago 

 received the appropriate and distinctive 

 name A. tequilana.— Queensland Agricul- 

 tural Journal, Jan. 1909, Vol. XXII., Pt. 1. 



ARROWROOT-GROWING IN 

 QUEENSLAND. 



The cultivation of arrowroot in this 

 State dates back to 1864. It was then 

 grown at Oxley Creek by Major A. J. 

 Boyd, who manufactured the commercial 

 article by the primitive process of 

 grating the bulbs and purifying the 

 starch by straining it several times 

 through linen stretched over tubs. The 

 product was then readily sold at Is. per 

 lb. Later on Mr. Boyd sold the bulbs to 

 Mr. Grimes, who also grew arrowroot at 

 Oxley and on the Brisbane River, where 

 he erected the first arrowroot mill 

 installed in the State. The bulbs were 

 sold at £2 10s. per ton ; and on the then 

 virgin scrub soils between Oxley Creek 

 and Rocklea, or Rocky Water Holes as 

 the place was then called, the return was 

 enormous. Mr. Grimes grew both the 

 Maranta and the Canna edulis, but the 

 former, owing to the small production 

 of bulbs, was found not to be profitable. 



At the present day all the arrowroot 

 manufactured in Queensland is produced 

 in the Albert, Pimpama, and Nerang 

 districts. At Pimpama the Messrs. 

 Lahey had extensive plantations and a 

 well-equipped manufactory. Ornleau, 

 where a considerable quantity of arrow- 

 root is grown, was taken up under the 

 old " Sugar and Coffee Regulations," by 

 Major Boyd, who erected a sugar mill 

 and grew cane for several years. He 

 named his plantation " Ormeau," hence 

 the name of the railway station on the 

 South Coast line. A very interesting 

 account of the arrowroot industry, by 

 H. N. L. — presumably Mr. Leahy — 

 appeared in the " Brisbane Courier " of 

 17tn October last, and we reproduce it as 

 showing the rise and progress of the 

 industry since its initiation :— 



Growers and Prices. 

 At present the growers are all situated 

 about Yatala, Pimpama, Ormeau, and 

 Nerang, and the principal ones are 

 Messrs. J. Latimer and Sons, Doherty 

 Bros., R. Doherty, Mayes, W. Murtha, 

 Mills, J. Bull, and Mrs. Clarke. The 

 total area under cultivation is about 200 

 acres, and Messrs. Doherty Bros, and R. 

 Doherty are the largest growers, having 

 between them about 100 acres, while 

 Messrs. Latimer Bros., at Nerang, have 

 35 acres. The other growers cultivate 

 10 to 15 acres each of this product. The 

 yield of the marketable product ranges 

 from 15 to 30 cwt. per acre, and the total 

 production is about 6^0,000 lb., or just 

 the same as was estimated by Mr. 

 Samuel Grimes, in an article written by 

 him on arrowroot cultivation in 1888. 



The price to the grower varies con- 

 siderably. Two years ago it brought 

 about £10 a ton, but this year the 

 demand has increased, and fully £20 a 

 ton has been obtained. The demand has 

 been largely stimulated by the spread of 

 the knowledge that arrowroot is quite 

 equal to starch for most kinds of 

 laundry work, while even at present 

 prices it is only half the cost. As its 

 value as starch becomes more widely 

 known, there is little doubt that a 

 market will be developed for a largely 

 increased supply. Taking the figures 

 for last year, we find that 1,284,815 lb. of 

 starch, valued at £17,375, was imported 

 into Queensland, mostly from Victoria, 

 and much of this could no doubt be 

 replaced by the cheaper and equally 

 effective arrowroot for all classes of 

 laundry work, except cold starching— 

 that is, in the case of such articles as 

 shirt fronts or collars. Although its 

 use as a starch is by no means new, 

 the knowledge of it has in the past beerr 

 limited and it U only recently that it 



