Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1917-03-19
GROW GASSAVAS
AS PREVENTIVE
FAMINE DANGER
Cultivation of Root as Food for
Man and Stock Advised
BY AgriculturiSt
BY j. NJ. WEsIGATE.
Director U. S. Experiment Station

I director ". ,. experiment. STATION
Because the Hawaiian islands. iso-
Hated as they are in the middle Of the
Pacific ocean, are to a great extent
dependent on the mainland for a ma
ljority OF food products, il behooves
1.-THE people here to raise sufficient
tamount OF foodstuffs TO preserve life
should the islands be cut off from the
mainland and to do away with any
lehance Of famine. Among the pos
Liabilities Is the eassaYa with which
the station has experimental consid.
lerably and found entirely satisfactory
Ito the local climate and soils.
/ Cassava is cultivated for its large
ffleshy roots containing from 25 to 80
lper cent starch. While il has been
Igrown throughout the territory a. a
flood for man and livestock and for
1.-THE production of starch (Pail for
many years, its value as a food crop.
flor all classes, still seems to be I'M
known to large portion of the popu-
llation. The plant is native of BRA
all but is now found in cultivation
Throughout the tropical and snbtropi-
cal world. The Importance of cassaga
as food plant was well demonstrated
lat Trayancore, an isolated district of
Linda, during the famine period OF
1907. Only 80 years before, had cassa-
Iva been introduced to the district,
which Is q short period for the con-
servative natives to become accustom-
ed to any new food crop. Travellers
Through Travancore during India s
famine period were very much sur
lprised to find that while high prices
prevailed for rice and staple grains.
the people of Travancore seemed I'M
usually prosperous and well-fed. and
further that a famine had been un-
known to the present generation. In
other words the populace of Travan-
core were unaffected by the high
prices of staple crops due to floods or
drought, because of the universal
maintenance OF a small patch of cas-
saTa by each household Cassaya is
tnoY known to large portion of India
| as famine fighter. and has become
a permanent and popular diet.
here are two distinct types of cas-
sapa, the red, bitter type, and the
white or sweet type, many varieties
lof both types being cultivated in this
Territory. The white types are early
maturing, requiring from nine to fiji
teen months to mature while the bit
ter varieties generally require up
wards Of Is months to produce q full
crop. While normal yields of the
white varieties average about Is tons
Of fresh roots to the acre. yields of %
| or 30 tons are often harvested per
acre from the red type.
Both varieties are known to contain
Improbable amounts of hydr0cyanic or
|prusslc acid, which, however, can be
removed by heating or subjecting the
sliced roots to the action of air. A
careful study is being made to determ-
line the methods OF preparing the cas-
saya roots Of all types for immediate
consumption and preservation, the re-
suits OF which VIII appear in bulle-
tin to be published, covering the cul-
| tivation Of cassava, its varieties. the
manufacture of starch and tapioca.
and the economic phases of the plant
as source of food supply.
Cassaya, in order to produce gbod
|crops, requires a rich friable loan.
preferably. underlaid by hardpan to
prevent the roots from penetrating too
deeply into the soil. as harvesting Is
accomplished by pulling the roots by
hand. The plant is decidedly drought
resistant when once well established.
and will produce better crops on mod
erately dry than on wet soil. In Ha-.
wall, any soil known to produce a
good crop of sweet potatoes, provided
their cultivation has not exhausted its
productivity. will produce correspond
ingly good crops of cassaya.
New plants are propagated by cut.
|tings of the woody portions of the
branches well supplied with buds. The
soil should be well supplied with mois-
ture at planting time for in soil that
is too dry roots viii fail to start and
many cuttings will become involved
in dry rot II planting must be done
during period of insufficient mois-
Eture, two canes should be allowed for
each hill instead Of one. For the
sweet cassaya the hills should be
spaced three feet apart in rows three
feet apart, while the red variety re-
quires the rows or burrows to be from
four to four and half feet apart. The
plants attain a height of from six to
ten feet when protected from winds.
When utilized in cottage yards as
windbrakes or hedge rows, they are
fully as ornamental as the much
sought4or Panax.
An excellent method of preservation
of the food furnished by cassava roots
lies in the manufacture of cassava
farina. The fresh roots of either the
sweet or bitter cassava are peeled and
grated finely. The poisonous juice is
pressed out by tightly packing the
grated pulp into bags, which are then
spoiled while the German officials
searched them for secret messages.
Thousands OF parcels have been lost
or have gone astray because of wrong
~ written addresses. Under the Off
cial system the prisoners will have
abundant, varied and suitable addi-
tiOnaI foodstuffs. BY mutual guaran-