CAS'SAVA, or AlAxior (Neo-Lat., Fr. eassare, Sp. easafie, ca;:abc. from Haitian kasabi), Manihot large. shrub by plant to the order Enphorldnee:e. Cassava is the West Indian name. and is used in the united States: manioe, or mmmlioe, the Brazilian; and in Peru and other parts of South America. it is called juea, yuca. It is a native of tropical America, emmunonly grown in equatorial South America, in Central America, and the \Vest Indies, where it was a ehief source of food to the natives at the time of the dis covery of America. Cassava is•now also exten sively grown in Afrien, and has been introduced into other tropical countries. In the United States it is cultivated in Florida. The plant grows in a bushy form usually 6 to S feet high and with a spread of about the same dimensions. The brittle stems, containing zi large, soft, white pith, spread out into many crooked branches bearing the green flow-ens and the broad, dark green, palmately divided )(lives. Cassava grows best on light, sandy, dry soils. It is propagated by cuttings from time stems and branches, which are dropped into furrows and covered. The erop, cultivated with the imple ments used in the cultivation of corn, matures in about seven months. The roots are harvested by hand. They are large, usually from one to three inches thick and from one to three feet long. For illustration, see Plate of CARNATIONS.
Two varieties of Cassava are recognized. the poisonous and the non-poisonous, also called bitter and sweet cassava. The poisonous prin ciple is hydrocyanic acid, which is contained in the juice of the plant. Both varieties yield a wholesome food, the volatile poison being driven off by heat in the process of preparation. In South Ame•ien a sauce and an intoxicating beverage are prepared from the juice, while the root, grated, dried on hot metal plates, and powdered. forms the food eommonlY known there farinha Portuguese for meal). It is made into thin cakes by the action of heat, which softens and agglutinates the particles of starch. The starch of cassava separated in the ordinary manner from the fibre is the Brazilian arrow root of commerce. This starch, dried quickly under the action of intense heat when in a semi solid and moist condition. agglomerates into small irregular masses and then forms the well known article of food called tapioca. In Florida, where sweet cassava is grown. the roots are grated and used directly as a food for man. They are also fed to stock, and serve as a raw material in the manufacture of starch and glucose.