Carolyn Fergusong age 119 of Cheney, Wash.9 for her question:

FROM WHAT IS TAPIOCA MADE?     

One of the old fashioned desserts that still has lots of friends is tapioca pudding. While the product itself looks as if it might grow on trees or bushes as a fruitq this certainly'isn't the case.      

Tapioca is a starchy food obtained by heating the root of the bitter cassava shrub. It is produced in flakes Pellets or flour form as well as a fine grained Pearl shape.

The cassava is also known as the Manioc or Manihot. It is a tropical shrub that grows in Brazil and other South American countries. The shrub grows about si  feet in height and has large, tuberous roots that contain acrid, milky juice .

There are two types of cassavas: one sweet and the other bitter. The bitter variety contains hydrocyanic acid although it is expelled by heat. z  ,

The roots form a staple article of food in Africa and South America. The taste, many say, is like the parsnip. They are aso grated and baked into cassava bread.

Cassava has several other products: from it is made the condiment assareep and an e tractedt fermented and prepared beverage known as piwarry.

But what interests us most is how the cassava gives us tapioca. The starch is produced by pulping the root, washing out the starch and then drying it. Tapioca is then made from the cassava starch by heating it gently on iron plates until it forms granules.

As marketed in the United States and Canaday the slow cooking granules are precooked and dried before packaging.

The cassava is presently being grown in parts of Florida. The roots are not being processed for the manufacture of tapiocaq however. Ratherv the Florida shrubs are being used to produce livestock food.