The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-02-24
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Letters to Tn l. Editor.
THE CAssAvA PLANT.
Some Interesting Information About

| It. Brewton. Ala, February g, 1903.
 Editor The Advertiser:
 l My letter joining In the cheap hog food l olscussion In The Advertiser, in which mentioned cassava. brought me a great | many Inquiries about this plant So many | that to answer them serviceably would | require more time than I could spare. l nave tried to give answer to all the questions propounded in the enclosed cir | cular letter. Some of my correspondents suggested that I reply through The Ad- Vertser. l have mailed copy of the en- Slosed answers to each inquirer but think ing It's contents might be of service to l others Of your readers l enclose you a copy Tor publication if you think its i'm portahce merits the space 1t Will take. James NJ. Davison Brewton, Ala, February 13 1903. Dear Sir-My participation in the Hog 1 rood Discussion" in The Montgomery Ad- Veruser brought me so many enquiries aoout cassava that I find it easier. and l nope more serviceable. to answer all questions In this printed reply
 What Is cassava7 Cassava Is a tropical plant hardy enough to be grown prohtably Tn this latitude. (3l de NJ probably two or three hundred miles further north. me plant grows here, on good land to the dimensions of our largest cotton stalks. The food part is its roots. They grow out like spiders legs just under tne surface, eighteen inches to three feet m length, two to three inches in diame- ter ter weighing five to twenty five pounds 10 the cluster. The outside skin is the eotor of the yellow yam potato, and the meat Is hardly distinguishable from that or the "nigger killer potato.
 How Planted? It has flowers something Hke the elderberry but these have not inatured into seed for me. I suppose the howers make seed in the tropics It Is propagated here by planting the stalks IS we do sugar cane-except that we cut ,ne stalk Into pieces two or three inches long and drop them in hills four feet in the row and rows four feet apart. The middle of March Is early enough to plant Tn the low. fiat pine lands of South Ala bama. It will not germinate and grow uhtii the ground gets warm. The land ought to be rich enough to make thirty bushels of corn or a half bale of cotton per acre. well drained and thoroughly ana deeply puiveriZed. To secure a good stand the ground should be plowed close and deep with scooter, then narrowed. betore planting, cross blow and harrow again. Run off rows four feet wide, and mix commercial fertilizer Qf you use any). thoroughly with the soil. Drop one piece or the stalk in the drill every four feet, to firm the seed bed with a light roller put do not make the mistake l did last year or spelling your stand by packing the soil with a heavy drag
 cultivation? The cultivation should be the same as for corn until the plant is twelve inches high. After that keep the weeds and grass down with a scrape It VIII continue to come up until June and you get regular stand the foliage VIII soon shade the ground so there will pc no need to interfere with the roots hy blowing. The plant is extremely tender ana brittle. Stock of no kind should be allowed on it until frost. Cattle are fond or the leaves and few head of hogs and cattle turned in before 1t natures will prove destructive. After 1t has matured IL Is better not to let the hogs root in the held. They waste more than they use: Let the root remain in the ground until you need 1t for feed. It keeps well under the ground, but molds in week or two atter taken up. Prize 1t loose with grupbing hoe or mattock and lift it out or the ground by the stem and throw it into the wagon. Gather q weeks supply at time and put 1t in the barn where you can cover with hay or shucks when the thermometer Is below 32 degrees
 How to Save the Seed? The first light frosts will not kill the leaves or in1ure the stalk for seed. The advantage in let ting the roots grow and in shortening the time the seed Is in bank tustifies taking some risk in getting the seed killed. The pest and safest plan. perhaps, is to save some seed before there is any danger of heavy frost, and let the other stand untll we see that a freeze Is close by. I
 
 something that I have had such poor success in doing as In Ewing cassava seed. Cut down the stalks two inches aooVe the ground with a sharp wedding noe strip off the leaves and limbs. The maln stalk and larger limbs only will do Tor seed. My plan has been to make a plt twelve inches deep, six or eight feet wide and long enough for my quantity of seed. Loosen up the soil In the bottom and set the stalks on end, slanting them a little. Throw off ha small limbs and pack in the main stem ana larger limbs as close as possible so as 10 be sure to have one end of each stalk resting on or a little buried in the lose earth in the bottom. After packing In this way so as the top of the seed stalks are six to ten inches above the ieVel or the ground. cover with hay su- gar cane tops, pine straw, or anything which will exclude the earth and cold and then put on dirt as is done to save cane seed or potatoes. My seed put up this way kept well last year, but for the two years before I lost nine-tenths of the seed l banked. l have several theories about the causes of the failure. but they are not worth giving here. I feel certain that careful farmers, who have had ex- perlence In saving cane and potato seed, will catch on quickly how to save the seed. It Is better to commence with it in a small way until you see for yourself the best way to manage this crop It is a new thing In this section. It has been grown many years in South Florida. but their methods of growing and saving the seed will not do for us here. It will not take our thoughtful farmers long to as certain the methods best adapted to our conditions of soil and climate.
 What Is it good for? The yield is about three time: that of sweet potatoes. It contains more starch and less sugar than the sweet potato. Treated like our grand mothers used to treat potatoes 1t makes beautiful starch. In pies and buildings IL cannot be told from sweet potato. But with us it vii. not supplant the yam for table use. I,s superiority lies in its value and cheapness 4 A stock food. Horses. cattle, hogs and fowls love it. An acre will fatten twenty to thirty head of hogs, What kind of Soi' Suits It? I have nev- CT seen 1t growing anywhere except here. on our sandy. pine bay gall flats. would expect It to grow better on better drained. gravelly land with firmer clay subsoil. It would not do well on stiff clay soil. nor on fine sandy land so devoid of vege- after rains. Land best adapted to the sweet potato is best for cassava.
 Where to Get the Seed? l bought my seed at DeLand, Fla. four or five years ago. I contracted, several months ago, all the seed l could save and spare this serving the right to furnish my neigh bors. who wanted to try 1t in small quan- titles. l know of no other person in this County who plants cassaVa except J. w. Terry. near Brewton. He has saved seed this year which he says has kept well. By timely application to him you proba- bly, can get enough to raise your seed for another year. It sells For $1 per hun dred feet. One hundred feet will plant one-tenth of an acre, and a regular stand on one-tenth of an acre will make seed enough to plant three or four acres