June  1,  1897.J  Supplement  to  the  ^'Tropical  Agriculturist.''^ 
8S3 
j)f  blood,  which  should  be  absent ; and  as  blood  is 
the  first  thing  to  become  putrid  the  necessity  of 
slaughtering  cattle  in  a cool  condition,  and  conse- 
quent thorough  bleeding,  is  obvious.  The  flesh  of 
a liealthy  and  well-fed  animal  is  of  a bright  colour 
and  firm  to  the  touch.  The  fat  should  be  of  a 
yellowish  white,  and  without  blood  stains. 
It  is  unnecessary  to  state  that  every  animal 
slaughtered  is  not  always  of  the  primest 
quality ; although  such  animals  cannot  be 
condemned  as  unfit  for  food.  The  lean  flesh  of 
such  inferior  beasts  is  pale  and  flabby,  while  the 
fat  is  of  a bloody  appearance.  To  improve  the 
colour,  bleeding  is  often  resorted  to.  This  is  done 
by  either  cutting  the  tail  or  the  large  vein  of  the 
neck  by  means  of  a small  circular  blade 
inserted  in  a handle  of  steel.  When  the  operator  is 
satisfied  that  a sufficient  quantity  of  blood  has  been 
drawn  from  the  animal,  the  fiow  of  blood  is  stopped 
by  sewing  up  the  wound.  Although  unlawful,  it 
is  a treatment  that  aged  rams  and  ill-fed  calves 
very  often  undergo.  It  is  an  old  custom,  and  a 
very  cruel  oue,  causing  unnecessary  suffering  to 
tlie  animal,  as  there  is  strong  reason  to  believe 
that  this  treatment  is  useless  for  the  purpose  to 
which  it  is  intended.  In  the  case  of  calves,  a good 
meal  of  milk,  given  to  them  about  au  hour  pre- 
viously, will  do  all  that  can  be  done  to  whiteu  the 
flesh,  and  is,  of  course,  the  most  humane  treatment 
possible. 
In  slaughtering  it  should  be  the  object  of  the 
butcher  to  cause  as  little  suffering  as  possible  to 
the  animal.  Much  depends  upon  the  skill  of  the 
operator  in  felling,  especially  in  the  use  of  the  pole- 
a.xe.  The  pole-axe  is  an  efficient  instrument  when 
skilUully  used,  but  such  skill  is  not  always  forth- 
coming in  every  butcher.  There  is,  besides,  a cer- 
tain amount  of  danger  accompanying  the  use  of 
the  pole-axe ; should  the  animal  not  fall  at  the 
first  blow,  and  the  head  rope  be,  perhaps,  not  too 
strong,  the  consequent  struggles  of  the  animal  may 
result  in  its  breaking  loose,  when,  if  it  should  turn 
“ wild,’’ . the  butcher  and  his  assistants  may 
expect  a lively,  and  very  often  unpleasant  time. 
This  is  the  old  method  of  felling,  but  we  have 
now  a very  simple  and  effective  instrument, 
namely,  “ Greener’s  Humane  Killer,”  a bell-shaped 
apparatus,  made  so  as  to  be  held  on  the  forehead 
of  the  animal  by  the  hand,  and  in  which  is  inserted 
a small  bullet  cartridge,  which  when  discharged 
cause  instantaneous  death.  It  is  by  far  the 
quickest  method,  as  it  does  away  with  the  neces- 
sity of  pithing.  The  animal  should  be  bled  imme- 
diately it  falls.  This  is  done  by  partially  cutting 
the  large  artery  leading  from  the  heart  and  lying 
just  at  the  point  of  the  lung  cavity.  The  knife 
should  not  enter  the  cavity,  as,  in  such  case,  a 
quantity  of  blood  flows  in  and  smears  the  inside 
parts.  Beasts  are  also  bled  by  cutting  the  throat 
from  ear  to  ear ; this  is  not  a good  plan,  bleeding 
by  the  heart  artery  is  by  far  the  best  and  most 
effective  for  bullocks.  Calves  and  sheep  are 
treated  in  this  form  by  the  neck  veins  ; this  is 
done  to  prevent  the  necessity  of  trimming'  the 
shoulder  parts,  the  extreme  neck  parts  in  the  case 
of  calves  and  sheep  being  of  the  least  value. 
In  dressing,  the  skin  should  be  taken  off  and 
offal  taken  out  as  quickly  as  possible  for,  in  all 
weather,  the  soonet  a carcase  can  get  cold  the 
better. 
In  wiping  the  carcase  a cloth  rung  out  of  very 
hot  water  should  be  used.  In  no  case  should  a 
quantity  of  cold  water  be  used  over  a carcase,  as 
it  tends  to  give  it  a dull  appearance  and  renders  it 
more  liable  to  get  putrid  if  kept  for  a period.  The 
following  rules  may  be  summed  up  as  a guide  to 
thorough  slaughtering,  viz. ; — 1.  Proper  rest  for 
the  animal;  2.  Instantaneous  death  in  felling  ; 
3.  Thorough  bleeding  ; and  4.  Quick  despatch  in 
dressing.” 
♦ -■  — . 
PREPARATIONS  FROM  MANIOC  OR 
CASSAVA. 
Manioc,  tlie  tuberous  roots  of  Manihot 
utiliss^ma, is  generally  consumed  by  the  people  of 
this  country  after  cleaning  and  boilingi  and 
few  know  of  other  and  more  wholesomt  pre- 
parations. 
In  order  to  prepare  what  is  known  as  CiarssrtiK* 
meal,  the  tubers,  after  having  been  washed,  are 
divested  of  their  dark  coloured  rind  by  being 
peeled  with  sharp  knives.  The  peeled  roots  are 
then  reduced  to  a coarse  meal  by  being  pressed 
against  a rapidly-revolving  wheel  covered  with  a 
copper  or  tin  grating  surface,  or  they  may  be 
rubbed  down  to  meal  by  means  of  a flat  tin  grater 
nailed  on  a board.  In  the  latter  case,  however, 
the  operation  is  very  laborious,  but  still  a large 
proportion  of  the  Cassava  meal  made  in  the  island 
of  Dominica  and  elsewhere  is  prepared  in  this 
tedious  way ; the  natives  fix  the  large  flat  grater 
against  a tub,  and,  leaning  over  it  with  tubers  in 
each  hand,  they  grate  quickly  and  rhythmically  to 
the  sound  of  a drum,  and  it  is  said  that  they  are 
encouraged  to  extra  exertions  by  the  stimulating 
influence  of  inspiring  local  songs,  and  more  often 
than  not  by  large  portations  of  intoxicating 
drinks!  The  pulp  which  is  produced  is  put  into 
bags  and  pressed  so  as  to  force  out  the  poisonous 
juice.  The  Indians  of  South  America  and  Domi- 
nica do  the  pressing  by  means  of  curious  baskets 
called  “matapies.”  These  baskets  are  made  of 
plaited  strips  of  the  long  smooth  stems  of  a native 
plant  closely  allied  to  that  producing  arrowroot. 
When  empty  the  matapie  is  long  and  narrow, 
but  when  filled  with  the  grated  roots  it  becomes 
short  and  thick.  It  is  then  hung  to  the  branch 
of  a tree  and  heavy  weights  are  attached  to  the 
lower  end.  The  baskets  then  become  longer,  and 
by  the  constricting  pressure  most  of  the  juice  is 
forced  out.  Afterwards  the  meal  is  sifted  by 
means  of  sieves,  which  separate  the  woody  fibres 
and  the  small  portions  of  the  roots  that  have  not 
been  properly  grated.  The  meal  is  then  dried 
rapidly  in  large,  shallow,  flat  iron  pans  set  in 
masonry,  with  a flue  passing  underneath  so  as  to 
conduct  the  heat  from  a wood-fire.  The  meal 
is  spread  thinly  in  the  pan  aqd  constantly 
moved  backwards  and  forwards  with  a wooden 
rake.  The  heat  must  not  be  so  great  as  to  brown 
the  meal,  the  object  being  not  to  bake  tlie  product 
but  to  dry  it.  In  the  process  of  drying  any  re- 
maining traces  of  the  highly-poisonous  juice  are 
rapidly  dissipated.  “Cassava  bread”  is  the  name 
given  to  the  thiu  round  cakes  made  of  the  wet 
meal  and  dried  on  hot  plates  or  on  flat  pieces  of 
tin  held  over  the  fire. 
