The Penn's Grove record., 1882-04-08
Glucose from Cassava.

manufacturing glucose from cassaVa,
but after careful inquiry, we have not
been able TO trace them to a reliable
source. We have no hesitation, how
ever, says the Confectione,s journal,
in saying thet such Il company is con-
templated at an early day, and this
fact adds interest to the plant which
seems destined to take a prominent
part in the development of the confec-
tionary trade, and calls for more than
a passing notice from us as to the ma
ture of cassava, its habitat and its
meriis as a saccharine producing ma
terial. All confectioners know that
glucose has become n very important
article of during the past
few years, and the consumption of it
has reached 200, 900 tons in this country
alone, and a large quantity is annually
| exported. 1t has been made heretofore
from corn, which has advanced so
much this year as to make this much
needed article quite expensive. The
demand for it is very large and ex-
ceeds the supply. Heretofore the
profits for manufacturing it have been
very great at the rate paid for corn
during the past few years. During
the trial Of a receft lawsuit in New
York 1t came out in the evidence that
the Buffalo Grape Sugar Company sold
to one agency 800, 900 worth Of grape
sugar, or glucose, per month. That
company is 10Y using nearly 5000
bushels of corn every day in the week.
A bushel of corn weighing fifty-six
pounds will yield thirty pounds of
sugar or glucose the average net profit
on a bushel of corn is between forty
and fifty cents, since when the price
has materially advanced. This would
make the average profits of the Buffalo
Grape Sugar Company over 81 900, 900
a year, on a capital now invested of
81, 1000, 00C. The manufactured glucose
is used chiefly for making table sirups,
candies, for brewing purposes, as food
for bees, and making artificial honey.
1t is estimated that 11,000,0 900 bushels
of corn will be used this year BY the
various manufactures of this product
in this country. The average produc-
ton of corn in the States of Pennsyl-
vania, New York, Ohio, Michigan,
and Illinois is 35 bushels to the acre.
The amount Of glucose produced from
one bushel is 80 pounds, or 1850
pounds to the acre. Well authenti-
Gated evidence is at hand to the effect
that 30 tons Of cassava to the acre is no
unusual crop in Florida. This would,
at 56 pounds to the bushel, give a yield
of over 700 bushels Ter acre, and. at
the rate of 80 poands of glucose per
bushel, would produce over q 600
pounds of glucose per acre. A COM
parison of the yield of glucose from
corn and cassava from a large area is
as follows: 1000 acres of corn yields
about 500 tons of glucose. 1000 acres
Of cassava yields about 10000 tons of
glucose.
The method of cultivation is gener-
ally as follows: The ground is pre-
pared as for planting corn, the seed
(Which consists of a section of the
stalk containing an eye) is set in the
sandy soil spaced about w feet, in
rows three feet apart. When about
eighteen inches high the field is cul-
tivated in order to raise the soil about
the base of the stalk, which affords q
better support to the plant.
The leaves of the brnching top shade
the ground, and prevent the formation
of weeds and evaporation of surface
moisture. No irrigation is required,
as the moisture is cont inually supplied
to the tubers by capillary attraction,
The tubers grow somewhat similar to
the sweet potato, radiating from the
base of the plant and lying generally
horizontal. They may be utilized in
about six months after planting and
will continue to grow without deteri-
grafton for a period of two years or
upward, developing to such an extent
that tubers weighing from sixty to
eighty pounds have frequently been
tax EN- from the soil. The harvesting
of the crop is very simple: The stalk
is raised and tubers extracted by SIM
ply pulling them from the loose soil.
The plant may be again inserted,
when 1t will produce new roots. The
earth in this case is the storehouse
from which the supply is extracted as
required, with the advantage of the
| crop increasing in value as long as it
remains therein, whereas in corn there
is a season for harvesting, storing,
handling, and rehandling before it
comes to the hand of the manufac-
tuTer.
Cassava may be removed from the
ground any day in the 365, and carried
to the mill for direct treatment. For
many years the root has been raised in
Florida and used for many purposes.
The plants are natives of South Amer
lea. The roots (tubers) may be pre-
served for food purposes, by being
simply cleaned, sliced, and dried /;
from such dried slices manioc or cas-
sava meal, used for cassava bread, ETC.,
is prepared by simply grating. The
starch is separated and prepared for
food under the name of Brazilias
arrow root, and this, when agglomer-
ated together into pellets on hot plates,
forms the tapioca of commerce.
The glucose made from cassava is of
fine body and flavor.