290 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[October i, 1883' 



species are used for the purpose: — 1. Ilex tlieezmis, Boupl., 

 growiug in Paraguaj^, Entre Rios and Brazil ; 2. Ilex ovali- 

 J'olia, gro\viug in the'neighboui'hootl of Rio Pardo; 3. Ihx 

 canant, Bonpl., on the mountains of Santa Oruz and in the 

 forests of the BraziUan province of Parana ; 4. Ilex crepitans, 

 Bonpl., iu the interior of Santa Oruz and the banks of the 

 Parana river; 5. Ilex ffir/atitea, Bonpl., on the banks of the 

 Pai-ana river. This is the " caa-una " of the Guaranis. 6. 

 Ilex Huniholdtiaim, Bonpl., in the province of Rio Cli-ande 

 do Sul. This is the "caa-unina" of the Brazilians. The 

 last foiu- species, more especially I. ainarti, yield the "caa- 

 chira" of the Guaranis and the "caa-una" of the Brazilians. 

 Martins, however, in the 'Flora of Bi-azil,' states that in the 

 central districts of Paraguay, where the /. para(/iutrieiisis is 

 especially abundant, only the leaves of this species are used ; 

 in other districts the various species of Ilex are similai'Iy 

 employed. 



It is certain, however, that /. paraguariensis is the only 

 species in cultivation, but this is carried on to a very limit- 

 ed e.\tent as the wild plant is still abundant. The Jesuits 

 planted the tree becaufe they found that under cultivation 

 the leaves had a milder and more plea.sant taste. For cul- 

 tivation the seeds are carefully freed by washing from the 

 glutinous matter in which they are imbedded, without which 

 treatment they would not germinate, this office being pro- 

 bably performed in a natm-al state by birds, since the Indians 

 believe that the seeds will not germinate unless they have 

 been voided by birds. The young plants are taken out of 

 the hotbed when about 6 inches high and planted out about 

 12 to 15 feet apart, in a damp, somewhat marshy ground, 

 so as to allow of a small trench being made around the jilants 

 in which water can collect. They must also be grown 

 under the trees which aiford shade, as the yomig plants are 

 easily killed by a strong sun. AVhen they are about 3 to 6 

 feet high some of the shade plants are removed, and in four 

 years the leaf harvest can be begun. The young trees should 

 not, however, be eutirely deprived of their leaves lest they 

 should not be able to recover. In the seventh year they 

 will jueld 30 of 40 kilos of leaves. It is calculated that on 

 220 square metres of land one thousand six hundred trees 

 can be grown, yielding on an avei*age 35 kilos of leaves per 

 tree, or about 25,454 Irilos of leaves, valued at 190,000 marks 

 per 100 square metres. The cultivated plant remains a 

 small bush and never reaches the stature or size of the wild 

 tree. The cultivation of mate has been carried out with 

 much success in the province of Parana l\y Dr. E. Westphlen, 

 and it promises to be successful in the Dutch colony of 8. 

 Leopoldo in the province of Rio Grande do Sul, where the 

 plant gi'ows luxm-iantly. 



The trees has been planted in the Cape of Good Hope 

 and seems to succeed well there, as well as iu Spain and 

 Portugal. The quality of Paraguay tea depends upon the 

 time of year in which it is collected, the leaves pnssessmg 

 most aroma when ihe fruit is nearly ripe. In the Argentine 

 Repubhc and in the Brazilian province of Rio Grande do 

 Sul the leaves are collected from February to the end of 

 July. The new shoots are put forth in August, but at that 

 time it would run the trees to gather the leaves. In the 

 forest of the Brazilian province of Parana and Santa Cath- 

 erina the harvest is collected from March to the end of 

 September. In Paraguay it begins in December and con- 

 tinues till August. About a month beforehand the collectors 

 set out in caravans with their wives and children into the 

 forests where the mate trees are abundant, and make their 

 encampment. 



The first operation is to prepare a torrefier, which is made 

 in the shape of an arbour. The twigs are cut ofE from the 

 l>ranches and slightly scorched by drawing them quickly 

 across the fire. The twigs are then collected into bundles 

 suspended over the torrefier, a small fire of dried wood being 

 kept alight beneath. In about two days the drying is com- 

 pleted, the ashes are removed, and in the spot where the 

 tire was an ox-hide is spread out, on which the leaves are 

 beaten from the twigs with a wooden blade. The dried 

 leaves are then powdered and packed in wooden cases made 

 out of hollowed trunks of trees. 



In the province of Parana the leaves have lately been 

 dried in large wrought-iron pans, in the same manner as 

 Chinese tea, or in specially consti-ucted ovens in which they 

 can be prepared so as to retain more aroma; they are then 

 powdered by machinery and sifted ; this kind of mate obtains 

 a better price. 



Another form iu which the leaves are prepared is by 

 carefully separating them from the stalks and twigs and 

 roasting them, but this is not so much esteemed as the 

 powder, except in Ohili, where the leaves are preferred. 



In the South American Repubhc and the Brazilian province 

 of Rio Grande do Sul, mate is packed in serous of os-hide 

 holding 30 kilograms, and iu half-serons, coutaining 15 kilo- 

 grams; this packing gives to the mate a tUsagreeable flavom- 

 which detracts from its value. 



In Parana it is packed in cane baskets ; these are lined 

 with dried grass, called Jacaes, and contain 50 to 60 

 kilograms. The mate in leaves is hero sold at 280 to 

 290 reis (about 56 pence), powdered mate is sold in thick 

 and better woven cane baskets, containing iu a half-seron, 

 15, and as a seron, 60 kilograms, the price being 10 to 

 12 per cent more than the leaves. 



In the Spanish Republic three different sorts are sold 

 under the following names:— 



1st. Oaa-cuy, or Caa-cuys : these are the new leaves of 

 the scarcely developed shoots. They are of more delicate 

 textm'e, and of a yellowish coloiu-. They possess an 

 agreeable and pleasant flavour, but are seldom met ivith in 

 commerce. 



2nd. Caa-mirim. This was the chief pi-oduct in the 

 time of the Je.suits, and consists of the leaves carefully 

 separated from the twigs and stalks, the mid-rib of the 

 leaf being also removed. This kind is chiefly esteemed 

 in Peru, and principally exported there by the Brazilians. 

 It is called Herva mtmsa. 



3rd. Caa-guacu, or Caa-una, or Yerva de Palos, is the 

 most inferior kind, consisting of the large and old leaves 

 w\Xh. the twigs and fragments of wood, and possessing a 

 strong and bitter flavom-. 



In Rio Janeiro two sorts are known to commerce, 

 mate in leaf and mate in powder. In order to test the 

 quality of mate, the merchant takes a small quantity in 

 his hand and blows upon it. If the greater portion is 

 blown away he considers that it has been heated too much 

 and thus deprived of its strength. If it ia not easily blown 

 away it is then considered of good quality. 



Mate has been the subject of several analyses. In 1836 

 Trommsdorff anaylsed mate and found tannin, two resins 

 extractive matter, and a substance which he believed to 

 be an alkaloid, but he possessed too little material for 

 complete investigation. 



In 1843 Stenhouse found in mate an alkaloid and proved 

 that it was identical with caffeine. 



In 1850, Dr. Roohleder investigated Paraguay tea and 

 found the reactions of mate-tannic acid to be identical 

 with those of coffee-tannic acid. 



Lenoble, who, as well as Dr. Rochleder supposed mate 

 to be produced by Psonilea f/laiuh/Justi, named the crystal- 

 line active principle he obtained from it, " psoralein." 



He also found in it wax, albumen and volatile oil. 



According to Dr. Byasson, mate contains as much 

 caffeine as the best Chinese tea. The variety which he 

 experimented upon was Caa-guacu. He found also a 

 viscid substance resembling birdlime, soluble in ether ; 

 this he considered to be a fatty body of the nature of a 

 compound ether whose alcohol was allied to cholesterine. 



His analysis was as follows : — 



Grams. 



Caffeine 1-850 



Substance resembhng birdlime, fat substance 



and colouring matter 3*870 



Complex glucoside 2'3S0 



Resin 0'630 



Mineral matter 3-920 



Malic acid Not estimated 



Robin has examined several different kinds of mate 

 The amount of caffeine in young leaves dried without 

 special care was 002 to 003 per cent. 



Mate prepared by the Indians and containing twigs 

 and fragments of frviit yielded 0'16 per cent, and mate 

 from the Mission of the Province of Corrientes, 0-14 per 

 cent The peculiar tannic acid, which Dr. Byas.sou did 

 not find, varies between 1 per cent and 1-6 per cent. 

 The ash of young leaves varies from 0'12 to 0'2. 



Professor A. W. Hoffmann, of Berlin, found 0'3 per 

 cent of caffeine. The average of the pubhshed analyses 

 indicates about J per cent of caffein, that of Indian tea 

 being 2 per cent. The value of mate, as iu the case of 



