The Commercial Products of the Vegetable Kingdom by P. L. Simmonds

P >> P. L. Simmonds >> The Commercial Products of the Vegetable Kingdom

Pages:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 | 41 | 42 | 43 | 44 | 45 | 46 | 47 | 48 | 49 | 50 | 51 | 52 | 53 | 54 | 55 | 56 | 57 | 58 | 59 | 60 | 61 | 62 | 63 | 64 | 65 | 66 | 67 | 68 | 69 | 70 | 71 | 72 | 73 | 74 | 75 | 76 | 77 | 78 | 79 | 80 | 81 | 82 | 83 | 84 | 85 | 86 | 87 | 88 | 89 | 90

lbs.
To the first boiling of a copper, put of soda 60
To the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th boilings of the same
copper, 15 lbs., each making 60
-----
120
-----
Therefore the four boilings will take of soda 480
The same liquid will serve for two other days, by
adding 15 lbs. to each fresh boiling, say, in the
whole, 40 lbs., or 600
It will consume in soda for nine tons made in three
days 1,080
Or 360 lbs. for three tons made in one day.

On the fourth day commence again in the same manner, and go on for
the two remaining days as above, producing eighteen tons in the six
days. The quick lime is to be employed in each of the boilings, in
the proportion of one-third less than the quantity of soda. Crude
soda may be used in the boilings, without previously discarbonising
it, and quick lime reduced to lime water; but, to render the action
of the chemical ingredients more quick and certain, it is better to
discarbonise the soda before it is put into the boiler. This may be
done by preparing in a small separate boiler the quantity of liquid
necessary for a day's consumption, which is prepared in about an
hour. The carbonisation is effected in the following manner:--

Ten parts of salt of soda. }
Six parts of quick lime. } In weight.
Seventy parts of water (never less.) }

_Boiling_.--This is a most important operation. By it the gluten and
coloring matter are separated from the fibres, which separation is
absolutely necessary, in order to prepare the fibre to receive the
bleaching. It is necessary to observe that the three several sorts
of layers which are found in the tree, and which, under the head of
"crushing," are recommended to be _pressed_ separately, should be
also _boiled_ separately, because the outermost layer has more
coloring matter than the next under it, which again has more than
the innermost layer. As they are boiled so will they be dried and
shipped, and each sort will have a different price in the market;
that fibre which is lightest in color bearing the preference, in
consequence of its not requiring more than _six_ hours to
bleach--whilst the darkest will, probably from its greater tenacity,
take _twelve_ to _eighteen_ hours. It is advisable to place over
each boiler the means of lifting the mass of fibre when boiled, and
suffering it to drain into the boiler before it is carried away to
be washed. This is easily effected by a chain from the roof, to
which may be hung a lever, having at that end over the boiler some
hooks attached to it, whereby the mass is lifted out of the boiler,
and the liquor thus preserved for the next boiling.

_Washing_.--It is absolutely necessary that the fibre should be well
washed after being taken out of the boiler, in order that all
extraneous matter may be separated therefrom. In choosing the site
for an establishment of this kind, care must always be taken to make
choice of a spot in the immediate neighbourhood of a large river, or
other plentiful supply of fresh clean water. The machinery necessary
for cleansing and washing the fibre may be of various descriptions;
but, perhaps a selection from one of the three following sorts will
be found to answer every purpose, viz., those used by paper
manufacturers in England, and by coffee planters and arrowroot
growers in the West Indies.

_Drying_.--The washed fibre, when hung over lines made of the
twisted fibre, or any other convenient material, will be
sufficiently dry in a few hours to be taken down, when more can be
hung up, and then several batches can be dried in a day; and it will
be necessary to have the drying ground as near the water as
possible, in order to save weight in carriage.

_Pressing_.--When the fibre is perfectly dry, it must be well
pressed, for the convenience of packing, carriage, and shipment. The
hydraulic press is the best machine that can be used for the
purpose; but in the absence of that, the lever and screw will make a
large amount of pressure available. A hydraulic press of from 400 to
500 tons, will press bales of from four to five hundred weight each,
which will not be too large for shipment."

STARCH-PRODUCING PLANTS INVESTIGATED.

Starch is one of the constituent parts in all mealy farinaceous seeds,
fruits, roots, and other parts of plants, and is in large demand for
domestic use, the arts, &c. Our common starch is made from wheat, and
a good deal from potatoes. Pure fecula is separated by art from a
variety of plants.

Of plants yielding starch we have the Indian arrowroot, which is the
fecula in the rhizomata of several species of the Marantaceae. In the
West Indies it is obtained from the _Maranta arundinacea_, _Allomyca_
and _nobilis_, and also from various species of _Canna_ called _Tous
les mois_, and in the East Indies from species of _Curcuma_, and from
_Maranta ramossissima_ in Silhet.

The bread fruit (_Artocarpus incisa_), already alluded to, yields a
large quantity of starch; as do the sweet potato (_Convolvulus
Batatas_, or _Batatas edulis_). The pith or farinaceous part of the
trunk of the _Caryota urens_, is almost equal to the finest sago. In
Assam the sago of this palm is much used.

The two varieties of the Cassava afford a very superior fecula, which
is imported under the name of Brazilian arrowroot. 8,354 bags of
tapioca and farina were imported from Maranham in 1834. Some excellent
starch from Norfolk Island was shown at the Great Exhibition.

The Cycadaceous family yields much starchy matter, along with
mucilage. From the soft stems of _Cycas revoluta_ and _C. circinalis_,
natives of China and the East Indies, a kind of sago is made. These
plants are propagated by suckers. _Zamia pumila_, a native of the Cape
of Good Hope, and other species of this remarkable genus of plants,
which is nearly related to both ferns and palms, supply an amylaceous
matter, which has been sold as arrowroot. A similar product is
obtained from _Alstroemeria pallida_, a perennial plant, with pink red
flowers, growing in Chili. From the nuts of the _Cycas circinalis_,
the Singalese prepare an inferior kind of starch, by pounding the
fresh kernels. These are cut in slices, and well dried in the sun
before they are fit for use, otherwise when eaten they are
intoxicating, and occasion vomiting and purging.

The quantity of starch in a plant varies according to the period of
growth. The results of examination on the comparative yield of starch
in the potato, showed that while it abounded towards the latter part
of the season, it decreased when the tubers began to germinate in the
spring. It was found by Professor Balfour that 240 lbs. of potatoes
left in the ground, contained of starch--

lbs. Per cent.
In August 23 to 25 or 9.6 to 10.4
September 32 " 38 " 13.3 " 16
October 32 " 40 " 13.3 " 16.6
November 38 " 45 " 16 " 18.7
April 38 " 28 " 16 " 11.6
May 28 " 20 " 11.6 " 8.3

The quantity of starch remained the same during the dormant state of
winter, but decreased whenever the plant began to grow, and to require
a supply of nourishment.

Mr. Harris, of Jamaica, some years ago, made experiments upon the
nutritious qualities of the principal roots and vegetables of the West
Indies. These being well washed and scraped, were grated, in each case
into two gallons of clear rain-water, and the whole then filtered
through a clean linen strainer, after which it was left to settle;
when the amylaceous matter had wholly subsided the supernatant liquor
was carefully decanted, and fresh water added, which process was
repeated until every foreign substance appeared to be removed; the
produce of these several operations was then carefully collected and
dried with a temperature of about 110 deg. Fahrenheit, and, when dry,
weighed. In this manner the results given in the following table were
obtained:--

PRODUCE FROM FIVE POUNDS OF THE
Oz. Drms. Centes. prop.
Root of the sweet cassava (_Janipha
Loeflingii_) 14 1 17.27
Root of ocoes or taniers (_Caladium
esculentum_) 11 17 14.29
Root of the bitter cassava (_Janipha
manihot_), the Yucca amarga of the
Spaniards 11 2 13.90
Full grown but unripe fruit of the plantain
(_Musa paradisiaca_) 11 1 13.82
Root of the Guinea yam (_Dioscorea_
_bulbifera_) 8 6 10.46
Root of the sweet potato (_Batatas_
_edulis_) 8 6 10.46
Root of the arrowroot (_Maranta_
_arundinacea_) 5 6 6.71
The full-grown but unripe fruit of the banana
(_Musa sapientum_) 0 0 0.00

This table exhibits, no doubt, very unexpected results, since it
places the sweet cassava at the very top, and the banana at the lowest
place in the list, while the bitter cassava, which seems to be little
more than a variety of the sweet, notwithstanding its being the staple
material of West Indian bread, occupies two places lower down, and is
followed by the plantain. The sweet potato and the yam, both of which
are considered to be less nutritious than the arrowroot, rank above it
in the centesimal proportion of their amylaceous produce. Upon what,
then, do the nutritive properties of these various substances depend?
Is it upon a gluten which was overlooked by Mr. Harris, in his
experiments, or, if not, may we not suspect some inaccuracy in the
proportion of starch assigned by him to each? It is to be wished that
similar experiments were repeated with care in different quarters, and
the list extended to other tropical products applicable to human
sustenance, especially the roots which yield the farinaceous starch of
the South Sea islanders, to the achira of Choco, &c.

I shall extract largely from a very valuable report drawn up by Dr.
John Shier, agricultural chemist, of Demerara, and submitted to the
Governor of that colony in 1847, on the starch-producing plants, which
is deserving of more widely extended publicity than the merely local
circulation it has received. The remarks and results of experiments
are worthy of deep consideration; and although they were meant to
apply specially to British Guiana, they are equally pertinent to the
West India colonies generally, our African and Australian settlements,
and many other of our foreign possessions.

For many reasons it is desirable that the number of the staples of
cultivation and export of our colonies should be increased. It is the
general experience of British agriculturists, that the mixed system of
agriculture is more profitable to the farmer and safer for the land,
than the continued cultivation of any single crop, or indeed of
nearly allied crops; and although fewer valid objections can be urged
against the continued cultivation of the sugar cane, when properly
conducted, than against that of grain crops, it is nevertheless
certain that a well-arranged alternation or rotation of crops would be
better. When an efficient system of covered drainage is adopted in
British Guiana, there can be no doubt that the sugar cane will be
replanted at shorter intervals of time than at present, and that other
crops, such as provender crops for cattle, and provision crops for the
colonial and perhaps the home market, will be made to alternate in
cultivation with the cane. When the cane rows are as far apart as they
require to be, to admit of sufficient tillage with the plough and
other implements, it will also be possible to intercalate crops of
rapidly growing plants; and were this done, as it easily might, in
such a manner as to prevent undue exhaustion of the land, or
impoverishment of the sugar crop, the returns could not fail to be
materially increased. It would then probably be found that the
fluctuations in prices would be less felt, for they would not likely,
at the same time, affect different crops in the same manner.

It has been ascertained, in regard to some plants at least, that a
much larger return can be obtained in the colonies than can be grown
in temperate countries, however fertile. This is partly owing to the
greater fertility of the soil under powerful tropical atmospheric
influences, and partly to the fact that vegetation is continuous
throughout the year, so that slow growing plants can do more within
the time, from their functions not being arrested by the chill of
winter; and of many rapidly growing plants, two successive crops can
be grown within the year.

Starch is a substance easily manufactured, and being largely used in
several of the arts, as well as an article of diet, there consequently
exists a considerable demand for it in England. It may be obtained
from a great variety of plants, and many of the most productive of it
are natives of the tropics.

The high prices commanded by grain and breadstuffs in Europe, renders
the present a remarkably favorable time to ascertain what can be done
in this branch of tropical agriculture; for should the potato disease
return, or this root be less extensively planted than hitherto, starch
must maintain a high price, and it will be worth ascertaining whether
some of the superior starch-producing plants of the tropics might not
be cultivated to such an extent as to supply the English market, and
thus be at once profitable to the colonies and advantageous to the
mother country.

Before entering on such a cultivation, however, various points require
investigation. We ought to be able to answer such questions as the
following:--

1. What differences exist between the characters of starch produced by
different plants?

2. What are the qualities or properties that lead
manufacturers--calico printers for example--to prefer one variety to
another?

3. For culinary purposes, and as an article of diet, what qualities
or characters obtain a preference?

4. Can the starches from different plants be distinguished from one
another by distinct and well marked characters, so that the
substitution of a less esteemed variety for a more esteemed one, or
the adulteration of a high priced variety with a cheaper one, could be
readily detected?

5. What plants produce the most esteemed varieties?

6. What plants produce it in the largest quantity?

7. What plants produce the largest yield per acre?

8. From what plants is it most easily manufactured?

9. Is the process attended with any particular difficulties that ought
to deter the East and West India planters from engaging in it?

In the following observations (continues Dr. Shier) I shall be able to
reply to several of these questions, especially those capable of being
settled in the laboratory. On other points, particularly those
relating to the returns per acre, I am at present but imperfectly
informed, in consequence of the limited extent to which these plants
have hitherto been cultivated in this colony (Demerara), and from the
total absence of authentic data regarding the amount of yield.

_Characters of starch produced from different plants_.--Starches from
different plants are best distinguished from one another by
examination under a good miscroscope. The grains or globules may be
examined either as transparent or opaque objects; and although in the
same species there are considerable differences in size and form, the
different kinds are, on the whole, quite distinguishable. One of the
best ways of examining the form of the globules, under the microscope,
is to lay them on a plate of glass and cover them with a drop of
aqueous solution of iodine, which renders them gradually blue and
opaque. When the difference in size and form between the globules of
different species is considerable, as between the _Tous les mois_
starch and cassava starch, or even between the arrowroot starch and
cassava starch frequently used to adulterate it, it is not difficult,
with a little practice, to detect the fraud.

TABLE ILLUSTRATIVE OF THE SIZE AND FORM OF THE STARCH GLOBULES OF
VARIOUS PLANTS.

1. Tous-les-mois (_Canna coccinea_).--Grown in Grenada, 1-300 to
1-2,000 of an inch; general size, 1-500; form of the globules, large,
elliptical and ovate, and remarkably transparent.

2. Ditto ditto (species unknown).--From a plant grown in the garden of
the Hon. J. Croal, Georgetown, but gathered before the root was fully
ripe; globules spherical, shortly ovate and elliptical; size, from
1-600 to 1-1,600; general size, 1-800.

3. Buck Yam (_Dioscorea triphylla_).--Grown on the banks of the
Demerara River. Form of globules, elliptical, often truncated at one
end, so as to be mullar-shaped, some pear-shaped; length, twice the
width; size, 1-600 to 1-2,000; general size, 1-800.

4. Common Yam (_D. sativa_).--Grown on No. 1 Canal, Demerara River.
Elliptical, some long elliptical; size, 1-700 to 1-2,000; general
size, 1-1,000.

5. Guinea Yam (_D. aculeata_).--Grown in the same locality. Larger
globules, elliptical; smaller ditto, spherical, often truncated; some
shortly ovate, with the appearance of being flattened; general size
and range, same as No. 4.

6. Barbados Yam, grown on banks of Demerara river. Globules,
pear-shaped and mullar-shaped; range, 1-700 to 1-1,600; general size,
1-1,000.

7. Plantain (_Musa paradisiaca_).--Grown on the banks of the Demerara
river. Globules long and narrow, generally long elliptical, often more
acute at the ends than in any other species, some linear ended
abruptly; length, often three times the width; range, from 1-400 to
1-4,000 of an inch; general size, 1-800.

8. Potato (_Solanum tuberosum_).--Irish tubers, from Belfast Sound.
Globules, 1-600 to 1-2,000; general size, 1-1,200.

9. Potato (Commercial).--Locality unknown. Range from 1-600; globules
generally same as former, but a few stray ones as large as 1-40 of an
inch.

10. Sweet Potato (_Convolvulus Batatas_).--Grown at the Lodge,
Demerara. Form of globules, spherical aggregated; range, 1-1,000 to
1-4,000; general size, 1-2,400.

11. Arrowroot (_Maranta arundinacea_).--Specimens from Bermuda, where
the highest priced and best quality is prepared. Ovate and elliptical;
length in the larger globules, twice the width; range, from 1-800 to
1-2,400; general size, 1-1,400.

12. Ditto ditto, grown on plantation Turkeyen, Demerara, by J.W. King.
Size and description same as No. 11.

13. Ditto ditto, grown and prepared in Barbados. Characteristics the
same, but globules more uniform in size.

14. Ditto ditto, grown on plantation Enmore; not quite so uniform in
size.

15. Bitter Cassava (_Janipha Manihot_).--Grown on Haagsbosch
plantation. A few globules occur as large as the 1-1,000 of an inch;
these are ovate, the rest are spherical. The range is from 1-2,000 to
1-8,000; general size, 1-4,000.

16. Sweet Cassava (_Janipha Loeflingii_).--Grown on No. 1 Canal,
Demerara River.

17. Tannia (_Caladium sagittifolium_).--Grown at the Lodge. Globules
not so truly spherical as the foregoing, but range and size the same.

18. Wheat (_Triticum sativum_).--Locality unknown. Form of globules,
spherical and slightly elliptical, some very small; range, 1-2,000 to
1-6,000, the former the general size.

19. Maize (_Zea Mays_).--Grown in the colony, but locality uncertain.
Globules, approaching to spherical, much aggregated; range, 1-2,000 to
1-4,000; general size, 1-3,000.

From an inspection of this list, it does not appear that the species
would be easily distinguishable, and it is not easy briefly to
describe the differences; in practice, however, and especially when
the observer has a number of pure and authentic specimens before him,
to have recourse to as standards of comparison, the discrimination is
by no means difficult.

_Specific gravity of starch derived from various plants_.--Of many
bodies the determination of the specific gravity is one of the best
modes of distinguishing the purity. With the view of ascertaining
whether the different varieties of starch have all the same density,
as has been asserted by some, trials were carefully made of as many
specimens as I could procure. The results are embodied in the
following table:--

TABLE No. I.--DENSITY OF STARCH DERIVED FROM VARIOUS PLANTS.
------------------+-------+-------+-----------------------------------------
| |Tem. at|
Names of |Density|time of| Remarks
Plants | |Obs. F.|
------------------+-------+-------+------------------------------------
1. Bitter cassava|1.4 3 | 87. |Grown in the colony and prepared in
| | | the Colonial Laboratory.
2. Tannia |1.4773 | 87. |Ditto ditto
3. Arrowroot |1.4772 | 86.25 |Ditto ditto
4. Arrowroot |1.4748 | 86.25 |Ditto ditto
5. Common yam |1.4733 | 83.25 |Ditto ditto
6. Sweet potato |1.4718 | 85.75 |Ditto ditto
7. Arrowroot |1.4717 | 82.75 |St. Vincent's, commercial
8. Arrowroot |1.4701 | 84.75 |Grown in the colony and prepared in C.L.
9. Tous les mois |1.4698 | 85.25 |Ditto ditto
10. Sweet cassava |1.4692 | 86.5 |Ditto ditto
11. Wheat starch |1.4632 | 85. |Commercial, of English manufacture
12. Plantain |1.4615 | 85.75 |Grown in the colony and prepared in C.L.
13. Tous les mois |1.4611 | 84.25 |Grenada, commercial
14. Barbados yam |1.4607 | 83.5 |Grown in the colony and prepared in C.L.
15. Irish potato |1.4589 | 84.75 |Tubers from Belfast; prepared in C.L.
16. Guinea yam |1.4581 | 84.2 |Grown in the colony and prepared in C.L.
17. Potato |1.4561 | 84. |Commercial
18. Buck yam |1.4489 | 81.25 |Grown in the colony and prepared in C.L.
19. Arrowroot |1.4443 | 85.5 |Barbados, commercial
20. Arrowroot |1.4158 | 86.25 |Bermuda, ditto
21. Maize |1.4109 | 85.5 |Grown in the colony and prepared in C.L.
------------------+-------+-------+----------------------------------------

From this it will be seen that the order of density does not
correspond with the order in any of the other tables. Probably those
specimens prepared from dry seeds, such as wheat and maize starch,
which, as commercial articles at least, are less pure than those
prepared from recently dug roots, have also the lowest density.

_Hygroscopic properties of starch produced from different
plants_.--Such of the specimens as are marked in the following table,
as prepared in the colonial laboratory, were dried in the sun in
shallow trays, to which they had previously been transferred in the
wet state. When sun dried, the masses were broken down, and the
starches freely exposed to the air in the shade for ten days. Any
adherent masses were then rubbed to powder by light pressure in a
glazed mortar, and the whole sifted. Portions of each of these
starches, and of others for the sake of comparison, were then dried,
at 212 degrees Fahrenheit, in a current of dry air, and the loss
determined:--

TABLE No. II.--SHOWING THE HYGROSCOPIC WATER CONTAINED BY STARCH
PRODUCED FROM DIFFERENT PLANTS.

Per centage of water. Remarks.
1. Potato 20.27 Commercial, locality unknown
2. Sweet potato 19.57 C., C.L.**
3. Buck yam 19.43 C., C.L.
4. Barbados yam 19.40 C., C.L.
5. Arrowroot 18.81 Bermuda, commercial
6. Irish potato 17.28 Tubers from Belfast, C.L.
7. Guinea yam 17.14 C., C.L.
8. Tous les mois 16.74 Grenada, commercial
9. Arrowroot 16.43 Barbados, ditto
10. Common yam 16.36 C., C.L.
11. Plantain 16.23 C., C.L.
12. Arrowroot 15.65 C., C.L.
13. Arrowroot 14.84 C., Plantation Enmore
14. Tous les mois 14.64 C., C.L.
15. Tannia 14.60 C., C.L.
16. Sweet cassava 14.30 C., C.L.
17. Maize 14.22 C., C.L.
18. Arrowroot 13.36 C., C.L.
19. Bitter cassava 11.88 C., C.L.
20. Wheat starch 11.16 Commercial, of English manufacture