542 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [Febeuary i, 1889. 
in Bolivia, and the botanists there call it " manihot 
a'ipi." The plant grows from one to two metres in 
height, with straight and naked stalks, since they 
only develop leaves at their extremities; the only 
care given to them in their cultivation is to keep 
them free from weeds. The roots, to the number 
of five to nine, are of the size of the closed hand. 
The following analysis of the roots of the manihot 
a'ipi is given: — 
Water... ... ... 70-29 per cent. 
Starch 14-40 „ 
Sugar, salts and malic acid TOl ,, 
Fibrin and yellow coloring matter ... ^08 „ 
Crude fiber... 3-16 „ 
Ash... 10-82 „ 
From the above it is seen that the roots of the tro- 
pical plant are quite different from those produced 
in our own country. In regard to the distribution 
of the two varieties, M. Sacc makes the following 
observation: — 
" In Cuba I have seen only the poisonous variety. 
The same is true of Brazil, where I have not seen 
the manihot a'ipi except in the Swiss colony, Port o 
Real. As to the product of the two varieties, it is 
the same ; the stalks which are the size of the fin- 
ger, are from one to two metres in height. I have 
not been able to analyze the leaves of this interest- 
ing vegetable, but as they are much sought after by 
cattle, they are probably very nutritious." 
The above quotation from M. Sacc's paper I have 
taken from the Revue Agricole, (ii, 6, pp. 81, 82.) pub- 
lished at Port Louis Maurice. 
The name cassava should be applied properly only 
to the purified starch derived from the roots of the 
plant. The plant is known under the botonical names, 
Janipha manihot, Manihot utiliasima, Jatropha manihot, 
Manihot aipi and Jatropha Laefflingii ; it is also called 
the mandioc plant. The fleshy root of this plant 
yields the greatest portion of the daily food of the 
natives of tropical America, and its starch is known 
in this country under the name of tapioca. Manihot 
is a woody or shrubby plant growing from fleshy 
tuberous roots, the stems being smooth, and the 
leaves generally long-stalked. The leaves of the poi- 
sonous variety usually have seven branches palmately 
divided ; the leaves of the sweet variety are usually 
only five parted. In the " Treasury of Botany," page 
718, the following remarks are made concerning these 
two varieties: — 
"It is quite clear that while the root of one is 
bitter, and a virulent poison, that of the other is 
sweet and wholesome, and is commonly eaten cooked 
as a vegetable. Both of them, especially the bitter, 
are most extensively cultivated over the greater part 
of tropical America, and yield an abundance of whole- 
some and nutritious food; the poison of the bitter 
kind being got rid of during the process of prepara-' 
tion it undergoes. The poisonous expressed juice, if 
allowed to settle, deposits a large quantity of starch 
known as Brazilian arrow-root or tapioca meal, from 
which the tapioca of the shops is prepared, by simply 
torrefying the moist starch upon hot plates, the heat 
causing the starch grains to swell and burst and 
become agglutinated together. A sauce called cassareep 
used for flavoring soups and other dishes, particularly 
the West Indian dish known as pepper-pot is also 
prepared from this juice by concentrating and render- 
ing it harmless by boiling. Another of the products 
of cassava is an intoxicating beverage called piwarrie, 
but the manner of preparing it is not calculated to 
render it tempting to Europeans. It is made by the 
women who chew cassava cakes and throw the 
masticated materials into a wooden bowl where it is 
allowed to ferment for some days, and then boiled. 
It is said to have an agreeable taste." 
From the above analyses of cassava root, descriptions 
ol its uses, and the amount of it that can be pro- 
duced per acre, it is evident that it is destined to 
become a valuable agricultural product of the sub- 
tropical portious of our country. — U. S. Department of 
Agriculture. Washington, D. C, Sep. 5, 1888. — Agri- 
cultural Science. 
UPON ROOT EXCRETIONS. 
(By H. Moltsch: K. K. zool. hot. Gesell, Wien, 1887.) 
Roots excrete, as we know, acid substances capa- 
ble of attacking different mineral bodies. The re- 
searches of the author embraced to a considerable 
extent the chemical power of roots; they show in 
fact that not only some minerals, but also organic 
bodies are attacked by them, some much more than 
others, resulting in very great chemical changes. 
1st. The product secreted by roots is a reducer 
and oxidizer. 
2nd. It blues tincture of gayac, oxidizes tannins and 
humus like substances, and favors in consequence the 
decomposition of humus. 
3rd. It transforms cane sugar in sugar reduction, 
and acts in a feeble manner like diastase. 
4th. Roots corroded an ivory plate. 
5th. They frequently acted like fungi in changing 
the organic substance in the soil by means of ex- 
cretions and decomposition. 
6th. It has been claimed that excreting substance 
simply impregnates the cellular membranes, without 
passing through and from them. It is not so, how- 
ever, as little drops were seen on the surface of roots. 
— Agricultural Science- 
A Rival to Tea and Coffee. — A well-known 
planter has introduced in the Nilgiris a rival to tea 
and coffee in the Brazilian tree which yields the 
substance known as Guarana. Guarana consists of the 
seeds of a tree known to Botanists as the Paulinas 
Scorbutis, which is said to be very abundant in its 
own habitat. The tree produces a fruit about the size 
of a walnut, containing five or six seeds. The seeds 
are roasted, mixed with water and dried. Before being 
used they require grinding, when they fall into a kind 
of powder. The active principle is an alkaloid identi- 
cal with that found in tea aud coffee, but there is 
twice as much of it in Guarana as there is in tea. 
The effects are similar to those of tea and coffee. — 
Indian Tea Gazette. 
[All of which may be largely qualified by the 
absence of the pleasant flavour of tea in the nut.— 
Ed. T. A.I 
Cotton Spinning in England and other Coun- 
tries. — The Austrian Handels-Museum gives the 
following interesting figures respecting the position 
of British cotton manufacturers as compared with 
that of the rest of the world. The figures relate 
to 1887. The number of spindles in England is 
42,740,000 ; in the rest of Europe, 23,180,000 ; in 
America, 13,500,000; in India; 2,420,000; total, 
81,840,000. The quantity of cotton consumed is 
in England 1,514,521,000 lb. weight; in the' rest 
of Europe, 1,459,119,000 lb. ; in America, 944,758,000 
lb. ; in India, 300,000,000 lb. Thus England has 
more than half the spindles in the world, and 
uses more than half the cotton worked by them, 
while English spinning is unrivalled in the ex- 
cellence of its production and in the cheapness 
of its price.— O. Mail, Deo. 28th. 
Tobacco in Ceylon.— An enterprising colonist 
— whose name we had not previously seen men- 
tioned in connection with this industry — sends us 
an " Account Sales " to embody in our manual, " All 
about Tobacco," as practical encouragement to 
intending Ceylon planters. He writes as follows : — 
" I see you are publishing * All about Tobacco.' Put 
enclosed memo accounts sale in. Everything is of use. 
We are going in for this cultivation in earnest, and 
I hope you will give us every encouragement and ad- 
vocate the Ceylon Tobacco Company getting a large 
grant from Government when they prove their bona- 
fides." 
Most certainly at the proper time, a local Company 
will deserve official encouragement if the same was 
extended so readily to a foreign Syndioate. The 
Acoount Sales will find a place in the forthcoming 
volume. 
