Greene County herald. (Leakesville, Miss.) 1898-current, 1905-02-10

One of. the most interesting exhib
its at the Corn & Cotton Carnival wa:
that of the cassava plant, the grow
ing of which is one of the new indus
tries along the Gulf & Ship Islanc
road between jackson and Gulfport
1t is cultivated for its starchy root
which is used extensively. food and
for stock feed and for the manufac-
ture of starch. 1t is native Of Bra
zil and is classified by the department
of agriculture as a member of the
milk weed but when growing might be
taken for a shrub variety of buckeye
1t grows from mtwelve to- Fourteen
feet high and branches repeatedly
making plant of rare beauty that is
both ornamental and useful Prof. S
M. Tracy, special agent of the United
States department of agriculture, bu-
reau of plant industry, who sent a
number of fine specimens of cassava to
the Carnival, says: During the last
two years great amount of work has
been done in study of cassava, es-
pecially in attempting to find the most
productive varieties, and also to find
varieties which may extend the posi-
BILE limit of its cultivation to locali-
ties further North AT the present, It's
cultivation is limited to Florida and
the immediate Gulf coast, but it is
more than possible that, by selecting
seed from the earliest maturing sorts,
and by continued cultivation in cooler
regions, its area for profitable culti-
vation may be greatly extended. Up
to about two years ago only two varie-
ties were known in the United States,
though fifty or more varieties were
cultivated in South American states.
These varieties differ greatly in the
relative porprotions of starch which
they contain, some having double the
amount found in others. Of course
the varieties having the greatest per-
centage of starch in the roots is the
one which is most profitable for culti-
vation. In the work which we are do
ing we have secured large number
of varieties from Porto Rico, Jamai-
ca, and other tropical countries, and
I now have forty-two distinct varie-
ties growing on my place at Biloxi.
The principal practical uses of cassa-
va in this country are for the manu-
facture of starch, and for feeding cat
tie and hogs. In Florida there are now
three large factories for manufactur-
ing starch, which is used mostly for
sizing by the manufacturers of cot
ton goods. Excepting in the imme-
diate region Of starch factory, the
crop is grown for stock feed, and for
that purpose is growing very popu-
lar in all the Gulf coast region. As a
feed it takes the place of corn, and as
its yield is much greater, while ex-
pense for cultivation is about the
same, it is much more profitable. This
season had forty-two varieties grow
ing at Biloxi, and now have chemist
engaged in making analysises to de-
termine the relative value of the diff
ferent sorts. / have already made ar
rangements for the importation of a
large number of different varieties
from South America, and propose to
follow up the work in every possible
direction until we are able to demon
strate that the crop is one that may be
nade profitable in certain parts of the
country-or that is it worthless. We
are making no attempt to boom it,
and we are endeavoring to state moth
ing but demonstrated facts, what we
are trying to do is to learn the real
truth regarding its value. From what
we have already learned we do not
hesitate to recommend the crop for
nearly all of Florida, and for many
other localities along the coast, but
we are not ready to say how far North
it may be grown, or what may be the
best methods for its treatment. 1t
is a problem upon which we are
working, but one which has not as
yet been solved