xpressed
along with the juice, leaving all the rest of the starch to form part
of the meal. It is of such meal that the cassava cakes of the Indians
are prepared; and although by no means so nutritive as Indian corn
meal[46], there can be little doubt that in the Scotch and Irish
markets the cassava meal would obtain a preference; and were it
exported in quantity it would probably come into extensive use among
all classes.

The process would be as follows:--After washing in a revolving
apparatus, by which means the adherent earth would be got quit of, and
almost the whole of the thin dark colored cuticle become detached, the
roots could be reduced to pulp in a rasping-mill, without the use of
water; the pulp might be compressed in bags by hydraulic pressure,
whereby the juice, together with a small portion of the starch, would
be expressed. After allowing the starch to subside, the juice should
be concentrated to about the density of 1.4. The starch would be
washed, purified, and dried. The contents of the bags would then be
broken up and dried in the sun or in a current of air, after which the
meal would be sifted through a coarse sieve to separate the coarser
parts, which, if their amount was considerable, could be ground and
added to the rest. In this state of rough meal it is fit for making
the cassava cakes. If ground to flour it might be used to mix with
wheat, rye, or barley flour.

The process is usually conducted as follows:--The squeezed pulp is
broken up, sifted, and exposed to the sun on trays or mats till it is
fully more than half dry. An iron hoop of the size and thickness of
the cake to be made is then laid on a griddle or hot plate, and the
space within the hoop is filled evenly with the somewhat moist meal,
no previous kneading or rolling having been employed. As soon as the
coarse meal coheres, the ring is lifted and the cake is turned and
heated on the opposite side. The heat should not be sufficient to
brown the cake. The cakes are finally dried by exposure to the sun.
From the dry cassava meal cakes may be prepared by sprinkling it with
as much cold water as to moisten it to the proper point, and then
proceeding as above. Hot water cannot be employed, neither can
kneading, or any considerable degree of compression be used, otherwise
the water does not evaporate readily enough; the starch gets too much
altered by the heat, and the cake becomes tough.

If an acre of well-tilled thorough-drained l