THE CULTIVATION OF ARROWROOT.

Globe, Volume XXII, Issue 2135, 28 December 1880, Page 3

THE CULTIVATION OF ARROWROOT.

The cultivation of arrowroot is now beginning to attract some attention in Victoria, and it seems that although little known in that colony, it can be easily cultivated there. It seems that arrowroot is in all respects more hardy than the potatoe, being less subject to injury by frost, rrquiring leas moisture, and not so liable to be destroyed by an over supply of rain. It grows well (says a contributor to a Victorian weekly) in the strong black clay of the Hunter Valley near Newcastle, the volcanic soil of Ercildoune, the strong chocolate of Franklin Kiver, and the sandy loam of Eamahyuok, while it can be successfully cultivated in the moist climate of Gippsland and the New South Wales Coast districts, or the dry climate of the lower Ovens Valley. It is a profitable crop, too, while the labor is not an expensive item, as it is stated that from £BO to £IOO worth of the manufactured article can be raised upon an acre of land in Gippsland, and still higher results are obtainable. Another aspect of the arrowroot question is, says the authority referred to, that the produce is not only easily sent to the market, but in the event of the homo market being over supplied, it is well suited for exportation. Arrowroot is an article of commerce, and is consequently always likely to maintain a fairly remunerative price. The manufacture of arrowroot is almost os simple as its cultivation. Most farmers’ wives know how to make potato flour or potato starch, and arrowroot is manufactured in the same way. If arrowroot can be so cosily manufactured in Victoria, it would bo worthy the attention of any farmers to try the experiment hero of growing such an inexpensive and profitable crop. There is every reason to be believe that it can be grown in this colony, as it is a barley that thrives on almost every soil, and therefore those of our farmers who visit the Melbourne Exhibition would do well to inspect the arrowroot exhibited there and judge for themselves. If for once a deviation from the beaten track, success will probably be the result, and would be a pleasant and profitable consummation, as it would be an agreeable variation to the low prices realised by wheat and oats.