A Rice Substitute. 
23 
-ceatarie? the propertiea of tftpioca have 
been knoiVQ in hot cottotfiea and varioaa 
methods of prep&rbtioD hnve been adopted 
to fight its bad efieeba. This robnsb plnnc 
haa iocfa a high nutritions yaIuq and the 
service It has rendered hnmaDity in yeara 
of plenty or dearth speaks volumes for its 
caJtlvation as a foodst^aff awi its deveiop- 
ment as a comaierei*iI prod not. It is 
fstiiBat^d that the native of Gaiana nho 
depends mostly on feapioca for his snbsi^- 
tetice pat takes of about 750 grama daily. 
CfoBBidered the most nafntive aod moat 
widely spread of colooUI plantj, tapioca haa 
eiiddenly ris?a into promioeoce within the 
last few decade and the great progreBs ib 
ha;; made is ohkfly attribnted to ita new 
naes in Earopean inrlDa tries. It difiers 
from a few tropical plauis in so far aa it 
brings in an immediate crop and it might 
■interest some rt-adera to koow that a large 
JUalayan Rabber Estate valued at 
2,500,000 dollars haa been entirely paid fof 
by lbs crops of tapioca (this baa been pab* 
liahed by the * 'Tropical Afiriculrnre" a few 
years before the war). lb ia a Doique plant, 
not only as regards ita orop which never 
fails bat it knowa no Mckness able to dimi- 
niah or deatroy ita return ; every inject and 
every aoimal, the wild piga ex- 
oeptedt respect! it } the oitives hold 
it in hij^h esteem almost amounting 
fco veneratiou and ia well acquainted with ita 
oaitlvation. 
Tbia plant has then many advantages 
and an iotereat in ita cnlture ongbt to be 
a palliative to the fears and nervousnesa of 
shareholders equally interested in oolonia, 
enterprises oE loog eirpectation auch aS teal 
■ooffee, cocoa, tubber, vanilla^ etc , where 
