Great Falls tribune., 1922-03-14
ton of the cotton growers dilemma.
Sweet Potato Syrup Next


Sweet potato syrup is another sug-
gestion to the southern farmer made
by the bureau after long Investigations
crowned at last with success. The
sweet potato syrup produced by the
bureau experts is pronounced a very
desirable syrup. It only remains to
arouse public interest in the new com
modify. In Fitzgerald, Ga, where
experim ments have been made, govern
ment scientists are to produce several
thousand gallons this year and distrib
ute it, to show consumers that the
product is acceptable.
This newly developed food product is
expected to Increase interest in sweet
potato raising. The Gull potatoes-the
jumbos that are too large and the dwarf
market-can be turned into syrup as a
practical commercial proposition, the
bureau of chemistry says.
But, though new kinds of syrup are
the bureaus most engrossing interests
just now, they are not, perhaps, SO
novel as a new drink. The beverage
which the bureau is developing some
what resembles tea. It is made from
a plant known as cassina which grows
luxuriantly in the south. Cassina il
an herb belonging to the same family
as yerba mate of South America. 1t
is q kind Of holly with leaves small
and round like mistletoe and red holly
berries. 1t grows % feet high in
hedges and windbreaks on southern
farms.
'eThe leaves of this plant are said to
have been used in the civil war by col
ored people as a tea," DIR. Skinner ex-
planned. But tea is not properly made
from leaves simply picked and market
ed. The leaves must be cured, and it
IS this process that we are developing.
investigations are being carried on in
South Carolina and other places and we
nope to produce q new drink which will
meet with favor among the tea connois-
seurs Of this country.
We have made some excellent tea
from the leaves of this plant 1t has a
bouquet similar to high grade tea.
with q -piquant flavor Of its own that
is peculiarly agreeable. We are hop
ing to produce it this year on semi
commercial scale, and we believe that
It will prove to be cheaper than tea.
This does not mean that it is to be a
cheap product that may be substituted
for tea or blended with tea. 1t is a
its own merits. Both tea and coffee
are altogether imported by this country.
Here is the possibility. our expert
mental work shows, for development
OF great American beverage industry,
tor casslna can be grown anywhere
from North Carolina down through the
south"
May Export Tea Substitute
1t is even thought possible that
cassina tea might prove profitable
export to countries using yerba mate.
Argentina, the country where yerba
mate is in highest favor, uses 6O.OOO.-
OOO pounds Of it year. All but g.
100000 pounds are imported, largely
from Brazil and Paraguay. If the cas-
sina drink proves acceptable it is pos
sible that we may export some to Ar
gentina. Aside from the fact that
yerba mate has smoky taste. slightly |
reminiscent of creosote, due to the |
leaves being dried over wood fire. it |
tastes very similar to cassina.
The bureau of chemistry is working |
with various other chronological pro-
lects in which it sees possibilities of |
helping the farmer, the manufacturer !
and the general public. The grease
that is always present in wool when it |
comes from the sheep has been made !
1 subject for investigation in the bu- |
reau with the result that what was |
once wasted is now being used for
anoln in making cosmetics, and that |
potash is also obtained from the wool |
New methods of manufacturing in
secticides, commercial dehydration Of |
fruits and vegetables. ways of pre-
serving tenting and other farm fabrics
ire other propositions on which the
bureau is working. Almost every |
product on the farm has possibilities
or greater use, but the bureau is lin
ted in funds. 1t has to take up the |
work that seems most needed
1T is mainly in the last half CEN
,ury," DIR. Skinner concluded, that
agricultural chemistry has played it's
important part in developing materials
ind we believe that in future chemistry
S going to render even a greater SER
ice than it has in the past"