STARCH-PRODUCII^^G PLA.NTS. 



341 



Europe, for the purpose of washiag aud rasping roots, aud of 

 separating and washing starch, would suffice with comparatively 

 little manual labor. An ordinary amount of judgment being 

 exercised in determining the proper period of ripeness of the 

 roots, and in selecting seasons when the weather is usually most 

 suitable for conducting the process of manufacture, it does not 

 appear that any unusual difficulty would have to be encountered 

 by growers or manufacturers, unless as regards the obtaining of a 

 sufficient supply of good water ; for that is essential to the pro- 

 duction of good starch. 



The creek water of the colony is generally too brown, and the 

 trench water too muddy, and contains often too much salt to 

 produce starches of the finest color, hence recourse would require 

 to be had to rain water, or Artesian water. The first is remark- 

 ably pure, and it certainly does not appear that were sufficiently 

 capacious reservoirs built, or ponds dug, and protected from in- 

 filtration by the usual well-known means, there would be great 

 difficulty in getting a sufficient supply of rain water. It is done 

 in Bermuda, and why not here? On the other hand, almost all 

 the Artesian wells in the colony contain a large quantity of oxide 

 of iron held in solution by carbonic acid, and which separates as 

 an ochrey deposit on free exposure to the air. "Were this water 

 used in the starch process, it would certainly injure the color 

 materially ; but by a chemical process, exceedingly simple, inex- 

 pensive, and easy of application, it is possible to purify the Arte- 

 sian water, and render it almost as fit as rain water for the pur- 

 pose of manufacturing starch. 



In some of the other colonies a great deal of the best starch is 

 produced by the holders of small lots of land, and many parts of 

 the labor being light, and suited for women and children, it is one 

 of the most desirable cultivations for small holders, and Avould be 

 very beneficial for Demerara, where the lands of the peasantry 

 too generally lie in a state of utter neglect ; yet small holders 

 could not be expected to be able to compete with those who 

 should grow starch on the large scale, and prepare it with the best 

 machinery. 



Cassava meal, 'plantain meal, ^c, as articles of export. — It may 

 soon become an important question whether the plantain, or some 

 of the edible roots grown in the tropics, might not be sent to 

 Europe in a fresh state as a substitute for the potato. Many of 

 them, the buck yam and the cassava, for instance, ought to be 

 used when fresh dug, for every day they are out of the ground 

 they deteriorate. This, however, is not so much the case with 

 some of the larger yams. It is worth trying whether the finer 

 sorts that deteriorate by keeping, might not, after being sliced 

 and dried in the sun, become articles of export, either in that 

 state or when ground to meal. For this purpose the bitter 

 cassava, the plantain, and the buck yam are the most promising. 



Of the bitter cassava mention has already been made as a sub- 

 stance from which the starch and casareep might be prepared. 



