Elements of Philippine Agriculture

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1908 edition. Excerpt: ...of the stems in the ground. Each of these pieces must contain at least one node, from which the young plant-will grow. On good ground they should be planted in rows 1 meter apart, being placed 80 cm apart in each row. The ground should be cultivated well during the first two months. After that time the maniok will keep the weeds down; but some later cultivation will improve the crop. Some short-lived crop, such as mungo or maize, may be planted between the plants of maniok; this will mature and be removed before the maniok is full-grown. Maniok will produce some roots on poor ground, and without any cultivation; but it is of course not a prolific crop if treated in this way. The green branches of the plant should never be cut off; but if flowers begin to grow, they should be removed. How the Starch is Secured. The crop is ready to harvest when the roots are fullest of starch. If it is well cultivated, this should be in 9 to 14 months. After that time the starch begins to decrease. The roots can be cooked and eaten, if desired, like yams or sweet potatoes. If they are to be used as a source of starch, the roots must be very thoroughly washed, and then peeled. When clean and white, they are scraped or ground into a fine pulp. Clean water should then be used to wash the starch out of this pulp, and into tanks, leaving the fibrous part behind. The starch is so fine that it will run through fine cloth; so if the ground, roots are washed across a tank or trough with a cloth top, the water and starch fall through the cloth, but the fibers wash away. After the starch settles in the tanks, the water is run off. The starch is washed until perfectly white, and then dried. No dust must be allowed to fall on it, for only pure white starch sells at a...