5 ^^ 
Tpr TROPICAL AQRiOULtURSST. [January i, iBpi. 
One cent per pound ia what 1 have iiUrays sold tbe 
root for in the market, which would fi^iu-e up the 
haudsome sum of $1,352'25 per acre. ^ But let us 
reduce it sufficiently in price and production to figure 
but one-fourth in dollars and cents, and we have left 
yet §338 06J. This would, of coutsa, be an extravar:ant 
reduction aud could n d fairly be alloweu. But, extra- 
vagant as it may appear, I am soundly convinced of 
the fact that every acre a man can cultivate, which he 
has stock, fowls, and folks enough on the farm to con- 
sume, will yield him a profit per acre of §500 annually, 
while S50 for fertilizer and expense for the cultiva- 
tion per acre will fully meet all the cost. 
Midland, Polk County, Fla. S. W. Caeson. 
CASAVE OE YUCA IN CUBA. 
In a recent number of the there 
what 
ill a rectnii; - 
appears to be an error copied from an exchange, which 
aUhouoh perhaps of no great importance, should not 
pass unnoticed, for however trivial an error may be, 
ic is always worthy of correction, and more bo when 
it promises to become general. 1 refer to the manner 
in which the word casaw is misspelt and misapplied. 
It has legitimately no direct relereucs to tho piaut I 
presume it is meant to designate, nor to its lOot, and 
it would be quite as proper to call wheat by the name 
of bread. Oasave is au Indian name adopted by the 
Spaniards and means simply a kind of cake made 
from the root to which the word is being erroneously 
app'ied. The plant aud its tuber ate b >th called juca 
iuSpmisb, (pioaounced you ka, with the accent upon 
the first syllable,) aud it has the same aboriginal origin 
as the misnomer. Throughout the British West 
Indies 1 believe both plant aud root are uuiversally 
called manioc, and to avoid confusion it would per- 
haps be well to adopt the same name in the United 
States although the Spanish word is mo;e concise, 
more euphoneous, and has the light of priority. Yuca 
was one of the four or five plants cultivated by the 
Indians of Cuba when the ill-requited Columbus dis- 
covered Ihe new world, and strange to say, it was 
cultivated by these savages with far greater rtcognifion 
of its requirements than is shown by their more civil- 
ized successors. This is abuudautiy evinced by the 
detailed description left us by one of the quaint authors 
of those primitive eventful days, aud I regret not hav- 
ing the account at hand to enter more fully upon the 
subiect The aborigines made their ersavo by first 
taking off the outer and imwr skin from the roots, 
rasping or pounding them to a paste almost, aud 
sprkdiug this in a thin layer upon a smoofh flat 
stone previously heated, producing thus a sort of large, 
round wafer which could be keiit a long time and 
enabling them to undertake long journeys, without 
prepariug food upon the way. Uasave eaten with 
houev seems to have been the staff of life of these 
inoffensive Indians, fit denizens of a land that harbored 
no wild beast nor venomous reptile, (not human,) aud 
where even the honey bee had no sting, and cin only 
defend itself by a square rough aud tumble fight, 
which the unforluuata aborigine, more Btiugless y et, 
was too meek to attempt with his merciless invaders. 
The Indian, it is said, was long ago improved off of 
the face of the earth,” but the little Oubau bee still 
holds its own, bravely defending its home in the forest 
trees, i's diminulivo single entrance with a restless 
sentinel always in the breach, stopping the way against 
its imported adversary. ^ 
Casave. although in all probahilify very nutritious, 
can hardly be considered a delicacy, and the taste for 
it is npparuitly au acquired one: it is, however, still 
common in Cuba and often sold about the .streets. 
There are several varieties of yuca in which the 
root differs greatly, some of them indigoiiou.s and 
olhers probably imported. One called hero the sour, 
or riyr/a, is said to be the root from which the ludians 
in some’ of flic islands manufacture poi-ou for thoir 
arrows but this Boeiiis at ieast doubtful. The leaf of 
the plant ins a unique shape, aud a yuca ‘‘]iatch” 
when about half grown is a pleasant sight. In this 
fctige the lower haves still reach the ground, the 
foliage forming a hemispherical mass, making rows 
of verdant dome.s, which are generally very regular 
and symmetrical in form. Where not exposed to frosts 
the jilants may be left growing for several years, 
ard Lhe crop kept in the ground instead of being stored, 
with the further advantage of increasing all the 
while, but during the wet season the roots become 
watery and loss palatable. One variety is quite bitter 
until about a year old, when it loses its unsavory 
flavor and preserves its edible qualities better m wet 
weather than other sorts. The yuca should undoubt- 
edly be grown as a regular crop iu the United States 
wherever the climate permits, for it is an excellent 
tuber, better probably, more productive and nutritious 
than the potato, resembling it iu many cf its other 
qualities. It ia a good food for all animals, including 
man, and in F.orida, or at least iu the southern part, 
where it can be kept in the ground throughout the 
winter, it might be made the basis of a largo industry 
in the manufacture of starch, of which it yields about 
2 per cent, superior iu quality to that in common use. 
Yuca starch resembles arrowroot very much, and, I 
believe, can only be distinguished from it in the form 
of the grain aud by microscopic test, aud may be used 
for the same pu-poscs. 
The process of extracting starch from y uca is very 
simple, and the requisite machinery, although differ- 
ing from that generally used iu the manufacture of 
the commoner kind, is neither complex or expensive. 
Starch might be made in Florida from this source 
upon as large a scale as sugar ; also “ British gum,” 
which this root yields, I believe, by the simple addi- 
tion of a due proportion of sulphuric acid, for no 
decoloration is needed. Yuca stirch, if well washed, 
is nndcubiedly superior for any purpose, and would 
meet, whi^ri us qualities are known, with a more 
rr ady sale at a higher price than the product of wheat 
and potatoes. 
If any of your readers in that state wish to do so 
they can test this new industry in a small way at very 
little trouble or expense. The roots should be at least 
a very old, and from seme varieties the yield will be 
greater after the second year’s growth. They should 
be well washed aud the two skir.s removed, particularly 
the outer one, lor otherwise its finer particles will get 
mixed with the starch and are not easily sepaiated. 
The roots may then be rapped or grated into a tub with 
a common baud grater made of punched tin, and for 
convenience cf large size. To effect this operation on 
a large Bcale, a rasper may be made by securing 
sheets of punched tiu upon two wheels made of board, 
and secured upon a wooden axle about five or six 
inches apart, to be turned by a crank while the roots 
are pressed endwise against the surface, in an inclined 
box of the same width as the rasper. The grated 
mass should be mixed with water and strained through 
a cloth fine enough to iiilercept all the particles of 
fibre, The residue may be washed until it has yielded 
all its starch and the refu e fed to the pigs. The 
starch vrill soou settle to the bottom of the vessel in 
which the liquid is placed, aud then the water should 
be drained off. This should not be deferred too 
long, because a yellow deposit will then be found 
upon the surface of the starch, which must be was hed 
away at some loss, although tbis will not be very 
great, for the mass is firm and compact. The starch 
should be again mixed with water, (before it sours, as 
ij will if left too long,) strained and settled anew, 
in order to purify it. After this it has only to be 
spread in the sun to dry. If the yuca fs of good 
quality, the product obtained will be a fine, wfiite 
powder, which will go much further than the cbramoni 
article. Any farmer may in this way supply his family 
for a year with little labor. 
The cultivation of yuca is simple aud requires no 
seed but the stalk, which, when dry, will also furnish 
fuel. It should be planted in rows about rix feet apart 
and .'ome appropriate crop sown between. The plant 
requires little moisture, and any excess if long'poUi 
tinned is very pernicious. It should, thirofore, be 
put into the gromql toward the end of the rainy season, 
in order to give it a fair start before the winter 
droughts eommence, arj it is better to bank the laud 
