Cassava-Jatropha Manihot.

When the climate is favourable, the plant is of a hardy nature and of easy culture. It however requires the land to be of good quality, and the same spot cannot well be employed to yield two crops of it in succession. It needs a dry situation for its most successful cultivation, and when spots of a different nature are applied to the purpose, precautions must be taken, by raising hillocks whereon to set the cuttings, against the effects of excessive moisture, which would rot the plants: some moisture is, notwithstanding this, needed by the plant at its earliest stages.

There are nine different species of Jatropha enumerated by botanists, only two of which are cultivated for human food. These two are,

The Jatropha Manihot—or bitter cassava; and The Jatropha Janipha-or sweet cassava. The first of these varieties, when in its natural state, is highly poisonous; while the other, although equally agreeable and wholly innocuous, is yet not cultivated to anything like an equal extent. The two roots are very similar in appearance, their only perceptible difference being a tough, ligneous fibre or cord rullning through the heart of the sweet cassava root, which the bitter variety is wholly without. Bread is made of both kinds, which is palatable and wholesome; and although its taste may be thought some I what harsh by persons accustomed to soft fermented bread made from wheaten flour, cassava bread is not without its admirers, and is in such high repute those who have been accustomed to its use, as to be frequently procured at some expense and trouble by Creole families who have transferred their residence to Europe.

inches thick at the middle.

with

The tubers are spindle-shaped, much resembling parsnips in appearance; they are generally about fourteen or fifteen inches long, and four or five When first dug out of the ground they are washed clean; the rind, which is of a dark colour is then peeled off, and the root is ground or grated. In Brazil, where the preparation of mandioc is carried on to a larger extent than in any other place, many persons are employed together in peeling the roots, which are then applied to and pressed against the face of a wheel, which is made to revolve with great velocity, and in this manner they are ground, a trough being placed beneath the wheel to receive the pulp. The next process is that of expressing the poisonous juice, which is effected by placing the pulp in bags, and subjecting it to the action of a press. The only farther operation reIquired to fit it for consumption is that of baking,

The

which is then performed on a hot iron hearth. pulp being placed on this, forms itself into a very thin cake, similar in form to a pancake, and fifteen inches or more in diameter. During the period occupied in this baking, the cake is kept constantly in motion to prevent its being partially burnt, and as soon as it is crisp is removed from the fire: when sufficiently cool it is then quite fit for use. If kept in a dry situation, these cakes will remain good for a very long period.

To whatever cause the poisonous quality of the juice of bitter cassava may be owing, it is so highly volatile as to be entirely dissipated by exposure to heat. Even a comparatively low temperature suffices for correcting its deleterious nature; for when the root has been cut into small pieces and exposed during some hours to the direct rays of the sun, cattle may be fed on it with perfect safety. If the recently extracted juice be drunk by cattle or poultry, these will speedily become much swollen and die in convulsions; but if this same liquid is boiled with meat and seasoned, it forms a favourite soup, called by the Brazilians casserepo, and which is found to be wholesome and nutritious. Dr. Pinckard mentions having partaken of this soup in Demerara *.

Stedman acquaints us that the Indians of Guiana, among whom cassava forms the chief bread, first grind the root on a rough stone, and then, for the purpose of separating the juice, prepare a curious kind of press out of reeds, which being disposed in the form of a long tube and secured at bottom, the ground pulp is introduced, and the press being suspended to a tree, a heavy stone or log of wood is fixed to the bottom, the weight of which draws the tube gradually together, by which means the juice is sqeeezed through the interstices. Occasionally the

* Notes on the West Indies, vol. ii. P. 257,

juice is collected into a receptacle, and is then used for the poisoning of arrows. The baking process of these inhabitants of the woods is similar to that described above, with this only difference, that, being without iron plates, their cooking is performed upon

heated stones*.

The roots of sweet cassava are eaten by the Indians after roasting them in hot ashes, and without * Narrative of an Expedition to Surinam, vol. i. p.

405.

submitting them to the previous processes of grinding and expressing the juice.

Both plants are propagated by cuttings, which very quickly take root, and in about eight months from the time of their being planted, the tubers will. generally be in a fit state to be collected; they may however be left in the ground for many months longer without sustaining any injury.

The juice of mandioc is sometimes fermented with the addition of molasses, and converted into an intoxicating liquor in great favour with the Indians and negroes. The former of these possessed a knowledge of the means of preparing inebriating fluids when first they were visited by Europeans, who in this instance are therefore free from the reproach which in too many cases attaches to them of introducing the practice of drunkenness among those whom they were bound to have enlightened by communicating knowledge, rather than to have brutalized by imparting vices.

Tapioca, which is capable of being made into excellent puddings, and which is a very wholesome food for children, and for persons whose digestive powers are feeble, is a kind of starch prepared from the farina of cassava roots. A considerable quantity of this preparation is exported annually from Brazil to Europe.'

A new species of phaseolus was accidentally discovered some time since in the island of St. Domingo. A gentleman, who was collecting plants in that island for the King of France, taking shelter in a cave, observed near it, upon some trees, a climbing plant, bearing clusters of dry pods. These seeds he gathered and sowed. The plants grew quickly and luxuriantly, and produced many roots, closely resembling that of cassava, and these, upon being treated in the manner already described, yielded very good cassava bread. In consequence of this

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