POPULAR MISCELLANY. 



717 



and skylights with alternate strips of these 

 colors, he has a light which when diffused 

 blends into a practical white that allows the 

 pictures to be seen as under usual conditions, 

 while the danger of fading is made the 

 smallest possible. 



Pimento. Pimento, allspice, or Jamaica 

 pepper is the dried berry of the pimento tree 

 of Jamaica, which grows to the height of 

 twenty or thirty feet ; and the markets of 

 the world are wholly supplied from this 

 source. The tree will not grow on the coast 

 lands, but flourishes best on the mountains 

 of the interior of the island. The tree from 

 the leaves of which the aromatic principle of 

 bay rum is extracted (Pimento acris) is also 

 a native of Jamaica, but its cultivation has 

 been neglected. * The pimento tree is a plant 

 of paradoxes. It is not friendly to cultiva- 

 tion, so that it has not been found possible to 

 rear healthy plants from the seeds by arti- 

 ficial planting ; and the stock can not be 

 successfully increased by slips. The seed- 

 lings thrive, however, when the seed has 

 been digested by a bird, and this source of 

 supply is largely relied upon. When it is 

 desired to stock land with pimento, the trees 

 growing upon it are cut down and their 

 trunks are left lying where they fell. The 

 bushes and the brush are burned, and the 

 ground is planted with provision crops. Aft- 

 er the lapse of some months, young pi- 

 mento plants may be seen springing from 

 the soil in various places. Care must be 

 taken to keep cattle from them, for they are 

 very fond of the spicy leaves and would de- 

 stroy the young plants. After two or three 

 seasons cultivation is stopped and the grass 

 is allowed to grow. Cattle are permitted to 

 pasture on the land after the trees have 

 grown out of their reach. The planter has 

 now only to keep the land clear of brush 

 and to gather his crops. The harvest begins 

 in August, just before the berries turn 

 black. One of each party of pickers climbs 

 the trees, breaks off the berry-bearing 

 branches, and throws them down to his com- 

 rades, who strip off the berries. The tree is 

 left in a ragged condition, and the process 

 seems to be a barbarous one, but it is said 

 to be best for the trees. If they are pruned, 

 the branches cut die to the main stem ; while 

 if the limbs are broken off they shortly send 



forth new shoots ; and it is claimed that the 

 year's yield depends largely on the extent to 

 which the limbs have been broken the pre- 

 vious season. The crop is next cured by 

 drying, winnowed, and prepared for the 

 market. Pimento holds the fifth place of 

 importance in the exports from Jamaica, 

 being exceeded in value only by sugar, rum, 

 coffee, and fruit ; but the demand for it is 

 declining, and its importance is therefore 

 growing less. 



The Tricks of Worthless Companies. 



A report lately published by the English 

 Board of Trade on the working of the Com- 

 panies Winding-up Act during 1893 reveals 

 some startling facts indicating mismanage- 

 ment. Winding-up proceedings were begun 

 during the year against more than a thou- 

 sand companies out of a total of 16,104 in 

 England and Wales, while 2,332 new com- 

 panies were started. The whole number of 

 liquidations during the two years 1892-93 

 was nearly equal to one half of the number 

 of companies formed during the same peri- 

 od. Besides these, a large number of new 

 companies annually prove abortive and 

 cease to exist, or, if their names are not taken 

 from the register, remain there as moribund 

 companies. From the figures of the past 

 year it would appear that nearly two thirds 

 of the companies formed fail to establish 

 themselves as permanent enterprises. The 

 report exposes the manner by which fraudu- 

 lent or mistaken estimates have enticed sim- 

 ple and believing investors to risk and lose 

 their savings. Malpractices begin with the 

 prospectus and continue till liquidation. One 

 case is cited in which the property sold to 

 the company for two hundred and fifty thou- 

 sand dollars had been bought a few months 

 before by the promoter for three thousand 

 dollars. In another case the interest in the 

 publication of a periodical was bought by 

 the promoter in June for fifteen hundred 

 dollars in cash, and was sold in August to a 

 company, practically consisting of himself, 

 for fifteen thousand dollars in cash and fif- 

 teen thousand dollars in debentures, with a 

 view of ultimately disposing of it to the 

 public at a price based upon these figures. 

 In another instance a small and worthless 

 business was represented as a business in 

 the various centers of industry in England 



