THE PLANT WORLD. 59 



ing swarms of insects l)ent on honey-gathering. The berries yield a 

 volatile and a fixed oil, also a syrup said to be sweeter than cane- juice. 

 The tannin extracted from the roots and bark fully e(iuals that taken 

 from oaks and hemlocks, and factories have lately been established in 

 Florida, in which it is used in the preparation of superior leather for 

 harness, etc. The tannin extracted from the western dock is called 

 canaigre, and it has given rise to a special industry. Even in its wild 

 state, the tubers of this plant are highly charged with tannin; while 

 by cultivation, its value is quadrupled. It resembles the beet-plant, 

 having large, coarse leaves which grow two to three feet high, and 

 reddish stems. The flower-stalk shoots up several feet in height, and 

 bears pink blossoms enclosing ultimately tiny seeds. To produce the 

 tannin, the roots are sliced thin, like Saratoga chips, and dried, after 

 which most of it is brought to New York, to a large factory in Jersey 

 City, where the process for extracting the tannin is kept carefully 

 secret. There are also smaller concerns in YA Paso and Deming, 

 Texas, where the roots are steeped. It costs one dollar a ton to slice 

 the roots, and a farmer, with almost no labor, can make from ^4 to $5 

 an acre, getting his plants in the first instance without cost, from the 

 desert around him. This discovery, it is thought, will revolutionize 

 the leather business. The supply will be inexhaustible, and comes in 

 time to save the fast diminishina: forests of hemlock. Canaigre was 

 first exhibited in the World's Fair in Chicago, and already promises to 

 be a bonanza to the western farmer, who declares that it will pay 

 better to cultivate than oranges or apples. America alone can use the 

 product of 1,500,000 acres of tannin, and Scotland will take the pro- 

 duct of 500,000 more. It is almost the realization of the prophecy, 

 "the desert shall blossom as the rose," the yucca and candle-cactus 

 having been hitherto the only desert plants of commercial value, the 

 former yielding paper, the latter oil to a limited extent. 



We cannot tell what another century may reveal of new and valu- 

 al)le plant products. When once the swamps, forests, and jungles of 

 all lands are laid open, the curious, prying eyes of men will not permit 

 anything of value to escape them. The fal)le of Midas comes true, 

 and everything which we touch is turned into gold. Less ruthless 

 methods must be employed in some cases to preserve the very existence 

 of valuable trees, lest that other fable be illustrated of the woman who 

 killed the hen that laid the golden eggr. 



[end.] 



