Miscellaneous. 1 53 



margin of canals, and on the sandy sea-beach. The sandy estuary of 

 Haugchan yields little else ; some of the trees at this place are known 

 to be several hundred years old, and though prostrated, still send 

 forth branches and bear fruit. Some are made to fall over rivulets, 

 forming convenient bridges. They are seldom planted where any- 

 thing else can be conveniently cultivated — in detached places, in 

 corners about houses, roads, canals, and fields. Grafting is performed 

 at the close of March, or early in April, when the trees are about 

 three inches in diameter, and also when they attain their growth. 

 The * Fragrant Herbal ' recommends for trial the practice of an old 

 gardener, who, instead of grafting, preferred breaking the small 

 branches and twigs, taking care not to tear or wound the bark. 



In mid-winter, when the nuts are ripe, they are cut oif with their 

 twigs, by a sharp crescentic knife, attached to the extremity of a 

 long pole, which is held in the hands, and pushed upwards against 

 the twigs, removing at the same time such as are jfruitless. The 

 capsules are gently pounded in a mortar to loosen the seeds from 

 their shells, from which they are separated by sifting. To facilitate 

 the separation of the white sebaceous matter enveloping the seeds, 

 they are strained in tubs, having convex, open wicker bottoms placed 

 over caldrons of boiling water. When thoroughly heated they are 

 reduced to a mash in the mortar, and thence transferred to bamboo 

 sieves, kept at an uniform temperature over hot ashes. A single 

 operation does not suffice to deprive them of all their tallow, and the 

 steaming and sifting is therefore repeated. The article thus procured 

 becomes a solid mass on falling through the sieve, and to purify it, 

 it is melted and formed into cakes for the press. These receive their 

 form, from bamboo hoops a foot in diameter and three inches deep, 

 which are laid on the ground over a little straw. On being filled 

 with the hot liquid the ends of the straw beneath are drawn up and 

 spread over the top, and when of sufficient consistence are placed with 

 their 'rings in the press. This apparatus, which is of the rudest 

 description, and constructed of two large beams placed horizontally 

 so as to form a trough, is capable of containing about fifty of the 

 rings with their sebaceous cakes ; at one end it is closed, and at the 

 other adapted for receiving wedges, which are successively driven 

 into it by ponderous sledge-hammers, wielded by athletic men. The 

 tallow oozes in a melted state into a receptacle below where it cools ; 

 it is again melted and poured into tubs, smeared with mud to prevent 

 its adhering. It is now marketable, in masses about 80 pounds each 

 — hard, brittle, white, opake, without taste, and without the odour of 

 animal tallow; under high pressure it scarcely stains bibulous paper ; it 

 melts at 104° Fahrenheit. It may be regarded as nearly pure stearine ; 

 the slight difference is doubtless owing to the admixture of oil ex- 

 pressed from the seed in the process just described. The seeds yield 

 about eight per cent, of this vegetable stearine, which sells for about 

 five cents per pound. 



The process for pressing the oil, which is carried on at the same 

 time, remains to be noticed : it is contained in the kernel of the nut, 

 the sebaceous matter which lies between the shell and husk having 



