t§i 



THE TSaPICAL AORICULTtTRIST, 



[jvttt i, t8^4. 



of its ripe and freshly cut fruit, which is the largest of all 

 the edible ones in the world, and is made up of an infinity 

 of Btones, around each of which is a toughish, straw-coloured 

 substance, sweet almost to mawlrishness, and overliowing 

 with juice. The Eastern substitute for roasted Chestnuts 

 are its seeds afor<*said. 



Lastly, one little word of chat about the Coconut, not 

 as we know it in this country, but as we gather it— young, 

 unripe, from its Talm iu one of the thick belts by the sea, 

 where it flourishes so luxuriantly— nowhere better than in 

 Oeylou. The white, soft, gelatinous pulp scraped gently 

 with a si)Oon from the yet unsolidifled inner lining of the 

 shell and mixed with the sweet, turbid, and cool " milk " 

 is as nectar, and not so intoxicating. Old wives say that it 

 is unwholesome — ne erede Teitcros. — H. L. 0. — Gardeners* 

 Chronicle. 



♦ 



SUPPLEMENTARY NOTE ON CERTAIN CHINESE ] 



PLANTS AOOLIMATISABLE IN THE UNITED 



STATES. 



BY DE. JIACGOWAN. 



[Subjects of previous note : — square, black, edible and 

 paper bamboos : coir-palm, banniau, plano-convex-turnip, 

 mat-grass, glutinous and red rice, bitter orange ; specimens 

 of living plants and seeds being forwarded, with a plea 

 for an experiment with the Yak, or " grunting ox," 

 hosphogus (Bos i/runniens.) Those specimens are, or ought 

 to be, under trial at some of the agricultural experiment 

 stations recently founded in several states.] 



In compliance mth a request of Edmund Stevens, Esq., 

 American Consul, Ningpo, couceruing several plants and 

 their adaptability to acclimatising in the United States, 

 the following notes (with matter not strictly germane to 

 the text) are respectfully submitted, being supplementary 

 to others on the same subject already published; premising 

 that besides the plants indicated bj' Consul Stevens, there 

 are many more that merit attention which are left for 

 discussion by other American observers in China. 



1. "Ningpo varnish" the commercial name of the Chin 

 Ch^ij i.e., "golden varnish," is a compound article, the pro- 

 duct of two trees that first require to be described. 



The basis of Ningpo varnish is obtained from a tree which 

 Dr. Bretschneider says has not been described [botanically]. 

 It is a kind of Rhus, denominated A ngia Sinensis by Loureiro, 

 and has a wide range, extending from the inland mountains 

 of Ohehkiang to the extreme west of the empire; the 

 provinces of Hupeh, Shensi, and Szechuan are the chief 

 sources of supply. In old books, Shingking in Manchuria 

 (N, Lat. 38, corresponding in soil and cUmate to New 

 England), it is stated, produced the best article. Chinese 

 botanists describe the ch'i shv, (varnish tree) as resembling 

 persimmon (Diospi/rns) with flowers resembling Sophm-a 

 Jnponica, and leaves like cedrela odorata, and having white 

 bark : it is from 18 to 24 feet in height ; and is compared 

 by some to the ash. It is directed to be planted iu the 

 spring ijy one authority, and in winter by another ; it is 

 easily transplanted, and then, apparently, takes care of it- 

 self. In some places the sap is drawn in spring, and in 

 others in autumn. Trees that are not vigorous are left until 

 they are found iu a thrinug condition. The spot selected 

 for operation is smeared with nut-oil (presently to be 

 described), and an incLsion over an inch in depth is then 

 made by night into the alburnum, into which a bamboo 

 tube, cut obliquely at the point, is inserted, when the varnish 

 gradually oozes out in a viscid condition and is passed 

 through a gauze sieve. At first, its colour is pale yellow; 

 then it becomes reddish brown, and soon as black as ink 

 [thus resembling the black varnish tree of Birma, Mchtunrrhoea 

 I'siia.] An emperor of the middle of the sixth century 

 once asked a courier " "Wiiat is the blackest thing in nature " ? 

 "Vam'sh," was the reply. Yet as found iu the shops the 

 viscid mass is brown; it becomes black only when spread 

 out and dried. Blackness is a test of quality ; when it is 

 pale yellow, it is niferior. presenting a honey-comb aj)]>ear- 

 ance: the best article is obtained with ditHeult\'. It is 

 frequently adulterated. Test: — Scoop up a small portion. 

 If it is stringy, slow to separate, and, breaking, at once 

 retracts, it is pure; Daub .some on a bit of bamboo; place 

 it in the shade: if it dries quickly it is good. Fanned, the 

 g«auiue article looks like a mirror; dipped up, it retracts 



like a hook; shaken, it presents an amber appearance; and 

 beaten, it becomes frothy. It should be further tested by 

 bruabing it on bamboo; if adulterated with nut oil it dries 

 slowly and is lacking iu blackness. It imports to sign boards 

 which adorn Chinese streets their jetty gloss, beautifully 

 contrasting with their gilt lettering. "When applied, a prim- 

 ing of soot of brassica oil is laid on the board, when it 

 receives a coating of varnish, which when dry is rubbed 

 smooth with glue, followed by a second coat. 



A peculiarity of this article is its requiring a considerable 

 degree of moistm-e to dry it. In damp weather, three days 

 suffice ; in di-y weather, several weeks are required ; a sudden 

 fall of temperature in winter causes recently coated utensils 

 to present a fractured, wrinkled surface. Ningpo cabinet- 

 makers use small chambers specically constructed for the 

 drying process by artificial moisture; they are plastered 

 with mud — walls, floor, and door — which is well watered; 

 in these dark damp receptacles varnished articles dry in a 

 couple of days. The paradoxical statement that Chinese 

 varnish requires damp weather for drymg is explicable by 

 the wood on which it is laid being then more absorbent 

 than when dry. Most wooden utensils iu common ure are 

 of a bright red colour from the mixture of vermilion vrith 

 the varnish: for coarse purposes, a ferrugiuousclay is used, 

 which impai'is a dull red. New articles require to be washed 

 for some times (after being used) and sun-dried ; otherwise 

 they are readily stained. ANTien once thoroughly seasoned, 

 the-vitrious like coating resists the action of vinegar, salt 

 and the like, and boiling water. The wood of the varnish 

 tree is yellow coloured; it possesses no economic value. 

 The acridity of varnish-poison is too well known; its 

 emanation inflames the cuticle of about one per cent of 

 natives who are exposed; foreigners are more susceptible, 

 Americans most of all; no number of attacks afi'ords 

 immunity to the susceptible. Dealers in varuishand varnished 

 articles if removed for a time from its vapours are attacked 

 as severely as the uninitiated, and are obUged to resort 

 to prophylactic ijieasures: — thrusting pine .shavings into the 

 nostrils, smearing themselves with nut-oil. The Chinese 

 remedies for the painful inflammation are crabs' liver, and 

 a decoction of pine shavings. I have found lead lotions 

 the best application. "With regard to acclimatising the 

 varnish tree iu the United States, I advise that plants or 

 seeds be procured in the AVest, although Japan ( which also 

 furnishes it) would be more convenient. "VMien alchemy was 

 in vogue, varnish was an important ingredient in elixiris 

 of immortality: it is now used as an anthilmintic and 

 emencgogue. This varnish was in use in prehistoric times. 

 Among the arts communicated by the Chinese to Indo- 

 Scythian peoples, was the preparation of varnisji, from 

 trees that they found growing in Northern India (second 

 century B.C.), which the natives did not know how to 

 turn to account; teaching them sericulture at the same 

 time, and the reduction of iron ore also ; but it diil not 

 form a constituent of Ningpo, or golden, varnish until the 

 Tang period (say eleven centuries ago) when the Ningpoese 

 acquired the art of prep;uring it, by mixing it with nut- 

 oil, which is next to be described. 



Nut-oil, the ''wood-oil" of commerce (a misnomer) is the 

 product of the h\\lt'vnr/-shu and the green ?';<«(/-»■/(«, which 

 have been designated Elenococca rermeosa ; — Aleu)it<s cor- 

 data-iermicitt montana: both kinds had better be designated 

 "oil-nut trees." AVere the Chinese to select a tree as a 

 national emblem, the nul>oil tree would be unanimously 

 cboseu, having beauty, utility and universahty to recom- 

 mend it. Poets never weary descanting on it from an 

 esthetic point of view. " Its bark has the hue of. the king- 

 fisher, its leaves (bracts) are Hke flowers; its elegance re- 

 joices the heart and gladdens the eyes." AVilliams styles 

 It the national tree of China; among foreigners it is re- 

 garded as a fine umbr.igeous specimen of sylvan nature : 

 nothing more. 



The hill oil-nut tree is the chief source of supply of nut- 

 oil — "wood-oil"; it is sometimes called the "tige oil-nut 

 tree" from the poisonous natmre of its fruit, and sometimes 

 the "jam oil-nut" because its nuts resembles poppy capsules. 

 It is of slow growth and is not lofty. It blo.ssoms in spring, 

 its flowers being pale red, producing a large rouuil nut, each 

 carpel containing two or three white seeds, having a 

 sweetish taste and causing emesis. As its name impUes, it 

 grows on hills. 

 The green oil-nut tree, following still Ohiuese accounts> 



