AEEOWROOT. 



345 



is steeped in cold water for 48 hours, levigated in a suitable mill, 

 and the pulp thus formed is treated with the solution of carbonate 

 of soda for 60 or 70 hours, being repeatedly stirred ; it is then 

 allowed to settle for some hours, the alkaline liquor is dl'awn off, 

 and the starch is washed and purified. This process was patented 

 by Mr. Berger, in December, 1841. A third process was patented 

 in February, 1842, by Mr. J. Colman ; he uses dilute mm^iatic 

 acid for the same purpose as Messrs Jones and Berger. 



AIREOWOOT, EAST AND WEST IIs^DIAN. 



Thjc genuine arrowroot of commerce is the produce of the tuberous 

 rhizomata of Maranta arimdinacea, a native of South America, and 

 M. indica, iudigenous to the "West Indies, but also caltivated in 

 the East. The best West Indian arrowroot comes from Bermuda. 

 Its globules are much smaller and less glistening than those of 

 Tous-les-mois, or potato starch. 



The peculiar characteristics of the starch obtained from various 

 plants has been particularised and described already in the 

 elaborate investigation of the commercial yield and value of the 

 starch-producing plants. Amylaceous matter of a simdar kind 

 to arrowroot is obtained from other species of Maranta, 

 as from some species of Canna, well known under the popular 

 name of Indian shot, from the similarity of their round black 

 seeds. 



The arrovrroot plant {M. arimdinacea) is a perennial, its root is 

 fleshy and creeping, and very full of knots and numerous long white 

 fibres. Arising from the root are many leaves, spear-shaped, smooth 

 on the upper surface and hairy beneath. The length of the leaf is 

 about six or seven inches, and the breadth about three towards 

 their base, the color and consistence resembling those of the seed. 

 Erom the root arise slender petioles upon which the leaves stand, 

 and several herbaceous erect stalks come out between them, rising 

 to the height of about two feet. A loose bunch of small white 

 flowers is succeeded by three-cornered capsules, each containing 

 one hard rough seed. 



The propagation and culture of this plant are of the simplest 

 kinds. The roots should be parted, and the most suitable soil is a 

 rich loam. 



In the Bermudas, a deep rich soil, or one in which marsh or 

 peat prevail, is alone adapted for growing arrowroot in perfection. 



A correspondent from the Bermudas, (where arrowroot forms the 

 great staple crop of the islands), informs me that he ploughed up 

 a small piece of land, twenty rods (or the eighth part of an acre), 

 with a small plough and one horse. He ploughed it over three times, 

 and the third time planted the arrowroot as he ploughed it. The 

 land had not been turned up before for twenty years. 



The expenses and profits stand thus : — 



