March, 1909.] 



253 



Edible Products. 



that a general statement of them is 

 valueless. Government land suitable for 

 manioc culture is available in most parts 

 of these Islands, and can persumably 

 be leased for 50 centavos per hectare, 

 per annum, or bought at 10 pesos per 

 hectare. A higher charge can legally 

 be made, but it is not customary. Omit- 

 ting these items a statement which I 

 believe originated in 1900 in the Leers- 

 burg (Florida) Commercial, and has been 

 copied widely, put cost of production in 

 Florida at $14 -65 per acre. This included 

 $4 for fertilizer, but did not cover the 

 cost of digging the roots. In Jamaica, 

 it was stated in 1904 as a summary of all 

 estimates and experience that "Cassava 

 should cost, for cultivation only, £3 13s. 

 to £5 2s. per acre, according to locality 

 and circumstances. 



A Mindanao olantation, paying its 

 labourers 60 to 75 centavos a day, has 

 found its expense to be, in round 

 numbers, as follows :— 



Per hectare. 

 PI 



20 



10 



20 



Stems for seed 



Clearing 



Planting 



Cultivation, twice 



Total 



51 



or about P21 per acre. This provided 

 for clearing coarse brush land, and the 

 purchase of " seed." which is necessary 

 only in the establishment of the indus- 

 try. Harvesting the roots will cost ap- 

 proximately P25 per hectare, making the 

 field expenses for the first crop P76. 

 Five dollars a ton was the price ori- 

 ginally paid by the Florida factories for 

 the fresh roots ; this has since been 

 lowered, but the factories have increased 

 their own area in cultivation. At this 

 price, keeping the very low estimate of 

 25 tons, the crop would be worth P250. 



Some Quotations on Manioc. 

 The treatment of maize for starch and 

 glucose is tedious and costly, whilst the 

 process for cassava products is simple 

 and cheap and the resulting products 

 purer. Cassava is the cheapest known 

 source of starch, costing at the above 

 market values (45 cents per bushel in 

 Chicago for corn) and existing methods 

 of planting, one-fourth as much as maize 

 starch. (Arclibold, Journal Society 

 Chemical Industry, 22 (1903), 64.) 



All kinds of stock eat it with relish 

 and thrive upon it much better than 

 when confined to any dry feed. (Tracy 

 in U. S. Department Agricultural Farm- 

 ers' Bulletin, 167, 1903.) 



For the production of starch and glu- 

 cose it surpasses all other plants in the 

 quantity producible per acre, and at a 



minimum cost. (Robert Thompson, in 

 the Gardeners' Chronicle, 1903.) 



The Indians of Columbia, who perform 

 tremendous journeys among the moun- 

 tains carrying immense weights, subsist 

 largely on cassava, or yucca, as it is 

 there called ; so do the Indians of Guiana ; 

 while the mendioca and farrinha (cas- 

 sava and farina) are the chief support 

 of the labouring people along the river 

 Amazon, whose strength and endurance 

 on scanty portions of farinha and fish 

 and nothing else save pacovas, or plan- 

 tains, have been the marvels of travellers 

 in these regions. (Journal, Jamaica Agri- 

 cultuial Society, 1902.) 



Its returns per hectare are so enor- 

 mous, that it is hardly possible that it 

 will have any rival. The product of a 

 hectare of manioc is enormous, and, by 

 manufacturing, returns of 500 pesos a 

 hectare should be obtained with cer- 

 tainty. (G. Eismann, in Der Pflanzer, 

 1905.)— Philippine Agricultural Review, 

 Voi. I., April, 1908, No. 4. 



THE CULTIVATION AND MARKET- 

 ING OF MAIZE. 



(Continued from page 550.) 



British India ... 5,961,487 — 1901-5 



Canada : — 



Ontario ... 289,456 — 1906 



Quebec ... i28,506 — 1900 



Manitoba ... 6,246 — 1906 



New Brunswick 259 — 1900 



Nova Scotia ... 177 — 1900 



British Colombia 51 — 1900 

 Prince Edward 



Island ... 37 — 1900 



Total 



324,732 



1900 



Canada (Census of 



1901) ... 360,758 



Australia :— 



New South Wales 189,353 148,386 19GS-6 



Queensland ... 139,806 99,198 1906 



Victoria ... 11,785 17,175 1905-6 



Western Australia 43 12 1905-6 



Total 

 New Zealand 

 Natal 



340,987 264,771 

 10,485 16,961 1905-6 

 395-182 125,222 1905 



The tropical and sub-tropical parts of 

 Africa seem likely to prove very suitable 

 localities for the growth of maize, and 

 if the natives are encouraged to grow it 

 in excess of their own needs, and bring 

 it to market in good condition, the 

 export trade &hould show a great deve- 



