The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1904-12-14

IL Grows Well Here, Is Fine Food for Stock
and Makes Excellent Starch"--Jared
Smiths Advice.

though other "siZes' are used by the
! weaver such as gum tragacanth
/ Starch is used by paper manufac-
! turers, by painters, tanners and in
manv minor industries,-for the man
ufacture of dextrine or gum used on
envelopes and postage stamps. I'M
mense quantities are used for glucose
manufacture. The uses and consequent
demand for starch for purposes other
than human or animal nutrition are
growing year by year. In Germany
and France starch and sugar are
largely used for the production of al
cohoi.
The three great starch producing
crops are wheat, potatoes and corn.
While all starches have certain quail
tiles in common, the starch produced
by potatoes, corn, rice. the sago-palm
and wheat, each show certain 1ndlv-
iGual characteristics. While in sense
starch is starch, the textile manufac-
turers have found out that potato
starch cannot be used in exactly the
same way as corn or wheat starch, so
that in case of crop shortages the diff
ferent starches are not capable of sub
stitution.
Fifty years ago the starch from
wheat was the only one uSeu ny
weavers. Potato starch crowded out
part of the wheat starch and now corn
starch has crowded out good deal
of both If corn continues to rise in
price and the conviction is confident
ly expressed that that is the present
anc future tendency, some other
cheaper starch must be found to take
the place of corn starch. Corn starch
Il, m 1f
the cotton cloth manufacturer than
does any other starch. Cassava starch
approaches most nearly to corn starch
in all its characteristics
There is on an average about IS per
cent of starch in a potato tuber, near
ly ali of it recoverable in manufacture.
The average for corn runs from 45 to
65 per cent and about 80 per cent can
be extracted. Cassava averages 26 per
cent starch in the fresh root. The ex-
traction under old methods of manu-
facture has ranged from Is to 20 per
cent. Improvements in method made
during last year make it possible to
save % pounds out of the &c present in
every 100 pounds of fresh root.
An acre of potatoes yielding 100
bushels will produce about HOO pounds
OF starch. An acre of corn yielding 40
bushels will give about 1900 pounds.
while an acre of cassava producing 5
tons of roots will yield from 1000 to
$500 pounds of starch. These figures
of yields are in each case conservative,
Aside from the utilization of cassava
roots for the manufacture of starch the
Importance of this crop as a source of
glucose is worthy of attention. The
fresh cassava roots contain in addition
to 26 per cent starch an average of
per cent of cane sugar. Experiments
conducted on commercial scale have
shown that it is possible to get glucose
from the fresh roots to the amount of
80 per cent of their total weight
Recent reports from the West Indies
give the cost of production of cassava
as from $4,000 to $500 per acre: yield
5 to 10 tons of roots; profits $25 TO $50 per
acre. In Jamaica the roots are ground
and dried and the meal is shipped to
England to be manufactured into glu-
cose. The factories are said to pay
IS to SO per ton for the fresh roots
delivered at the mill. In Florida the
starch factories pay Sc to IS per ton
fer the fresh roots. There are no glu-
cose factories in Florida. The starch
mills recover only 20 pounds of starch
out Of the possible &c in every hundred
pounds of root. but they save and dry
the waste. This starch waste has a
market value of from SO to $12 per ton
and is said to be in growing demand
for feeding purposes, not only in Flo
rida but throughout the Southern
States.
Planters in Jamaica are said to be we'll
satisfied with the profits to be derived
from this industry and are not only
rapidly increasing their acreage but
are investing much capital in starch
factories. The Florida factories are
making good profits in the manufac-
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