The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1900-04-02
The Home and Habit of cosSava.

" The following is contributed TO a Florida
paper by D. r. Pillsbury:
La Mandioca, Manihot utilissima, fam
| lily Euphorbiacea. is a vigorous semi-her-
biferous plant. native in Paraguay and
Brazil, having a fusiform tuber. resembling
the roots of dahlia. The stem is erect
| simple, cylindrical, of hluish color aud
from two to three meters high; leaves
| palmate with from three 10 seven lcbes.
| which resemble in form the body of a
guitar; green on the upper surface and
ash-colored beneath; flowers, masculine
and feminine, in corymbs at the ends of
| e'branches, small greenish yellow. The
| fruit is a capsule of a centimeter and
I half diameter. slightly rough. ash-colored,
with small reddish-colored spots.
There is a saying that the potato is the
tuber of temperate countries, the sweet
potato of warm countries, and the mandi-
oea of torrid zones.
1T forms the base of the alimentaton of
the IL 600 600 Inhabitants of Brazil and is
as agreeable food as the potato or sweet
potato; many persons even prefer it to
either 1t has the great advantage of be-
ing capable of transformation into food
material, healthy and nutritious.
THE farina which will keep Indefinitely,
is easily transported, and is in general
use in this country.
''Mandioca grows wild and is sad TO
/ prosper IN all parts OF BRAZIL neNeTtnelSss,
the plant prefers loose, fertile soil, more
moist than dry, and deeply worked. The
planting season is in spring, in the follow
ing manner: After the earth has been
well worked and pulverized, it is leVele1
with the harrow and parallel burrows
meter apart are traced and crossed in the
opposite direction at the same distance
apart, as is advised for sweet potato cul-
ture on larger scale.
The mandioca reproduces from cuttings.
The shoots which give the best results
are those from twelve TO eighteen months
old Cuttings for planting should be from
| nine inches to one foot long. Place the
cutting at the intersections of the fur
rows with the assembled buds facing
! the center. When started it is necessary
to revise the rows. Teplenish the missing
| plants and if a setting has more than
one shoot keep the most vigorous and de-
| stroy the rest. Moreover, it IS necessary
to begin to cultivate early, the first work.
| ing having great influence en- the har-
vest 1t should be done with great care;
a second cultivation should be given il
weeds invade. Generally these two are suf-
| fcient but if the soil be very rich third
| wedding may be given, taking care not to
disturb the tubers which are now partly
grown and scattered about beneath the
| surface Some varieties of mandioca suit
! able to the soil will remain unaltered for
| three or more years, while others after
| two years begin to suffer decomposition.
| Although the tubers can be used at six
| months. experienced cultivators admit
| that as a rule no manioc, to obtain best
result, should be used before ten or eigh-
| teen months from planting.
| In Brazil, the harvest is after three
years For digging hCe or pillow is used;
with either method vigilance must be
used or many tubers will be left in the
| earth.
Preparations of farina and tapioca, ex-
| fractions of starch and alcohol. Mandi-
oca is consumed in many different ways.
Boiled in water, taking the place of bread
much more fully than the potato. and in
different culinary preparations it can be
employed where neither potato nor sweet
potato can be used; and, as has been dis
covered, 1t can be transformed into farina
and tapioca. Following is the mode of
preparation in use in Brazil: The motor
| is wheel Of buckets with vertical axis
which utilities about one-tenth of the
water power To the axis is fixed
crater. This crater is a species of drum
formed of Stats, bearing teeth riveted
| in. To prepare the roots each one is push
| ed against the crater, a bag receives the
| pulp which is pressed with a lever or
screw; it is moistened and pressed again.
The pulp is constantly agitated in flat
bottomed drying pan over a fire. The wa
ter obtained from the press contains
starch, which is made into tapioca To
prepare this starch for commerce throw
it into a well-heated copper cask. To
realize anything from this industry it
must be done on a large scale with
/ central factory. and with modern machn-
| cry such as is used in Europe, and the
cultivation consigned to small farmers.
who sell their crop for half the cost Of
producing the farlna.