1885-] 



AND HORTICULTURIST. 



17 



satisfying when fresh, besides being cheap, and 

 having the \-irtue of keeping weU. As met with 

 here, however, they are hard and leathery, and 

 not very attractive. 



•'As an economic plant already, it is strange that 

 no attempts have been made by improved culture 

 to transform the pod into a savory edible fruit. 



" In Portugal the pods are known under the 

 name .A.lgarobas, and in Austria as Johannes' 

 Bread. It has the reputation of being the food on 

 which St John fed in the wilderness ; but this is 

 questionable, as it was most probably the insect 

 locusts, which are parched and eaten to this day 

 in parts of Africa. In Vienna Carob beans are 

 sold at all the fruit stalls in the streets ; and they 

 are even sold in many sweet shops in London and 

 elsewhere, being purchased by children. In Sicily 

 a spirit and a syrup are made from the sweet pods; 

 it has a flavor not disagreeable, and resembling in 

 taste the fruit. .Aromatised liquors have also been 

 made from it. In Egypt a mucilaginous refresh- 

 ing beverage is made from the pods, and they 

 steep in it the fruits of the Balanites .-Egyptica." 



KiTOOL Fibre. — ^The Palm, Caryota urens, 

 Linn., is a native of Ceylon, Malabar, Bengal, 

 Assam, and various parts of India. Amongst 

 natives of Ceylon it is known as Kitool ; in India 

 it is called Bastard Sago, Coonda pauna (Tamil) ; 

 Erimpana, or Schundra-pana (Mai.). 



It is a beautiful and lofty palm, with a trunk 

 more than a foot in diameter, and 40 feet high- 

 The large bipinnatisect leaves measure 18 feet to 

 20 feet in length, and 10 to 12 feet across. The 

 fruit is of the size of a plum, with a thin yellow 

 rind, and is very burning and acrid in taste. From 

 the flower-stem an enormous amount of sweet 

 juice can be obtained ; as much as 100 pints in 

 twenty-four hours. From this juice Jaggery sugar 

 well known in our markets, is prepared, although 

 it is not the only source, other palm trees yielding 

 it in commercial quantities. The caste who prepare 

 this sugar in Ceylon are known as laggeros. 

 The juice is also pleasant to drink when fresh, and 

 an intoxicating spirit, known variously as toddy, 

 arrack, pauna, or pawnee, is obtained by fermen- 

 tation, and largely used. 



The pith of the stem contains a large amount of 

 farinaceous matter, equal to Sago in quality. The 

 natives use this largely for food in the shape of 

 gruel, or a kind of bread. Dke its relative, the 

 Cocoanut, Kitool Palm is a source of food and 

 profit to its owner. Elephants make of the leaves 

 their favorite food, and the " heart," or expanded 

 leaves, can be made into a capital cabbage, or 

 pickled, or candied. The wooUy substance at the 

 base of the leaves is used in caulking ships. 



The fibres or veins of the leaves fiimish the 

 Kitool fibre, and it is largely used by the natives 



for the making of ropes, fishing-lines, bow-strings, 

 brushes, brooms, baskets, caps, &c. Its great 

 strength has earned for it the name of Elephant 

 fibre, and ropes made of Kitool are used to tether 

 and secure wild elephants. 



The fibre has long been known in this country, 

 and under the name of Indian gut has long been 

 used for fishing-lines. WTien made into brushes 

 it is found to be most durable, and some firms will 

 not use brushes made of any other material. It 

 seems to be the best substitute for bristles, as the 

 fibre is strong, tough, and impervious to water. 

 It is, however, rather brinle, and a sudden knock 

 may break it. It can be woven together with cot- 

 ton for petticoat stuffs, and forms a cheap and 

 flexible fabric for dress-improvers, &c Steamed 

 and curled, it can be used for stuffing purposes in 

 upholstery, and the refuse may be used instead of 

 hair to mix with mortar for buUding purposes. 

 ^\^len dipi)ed in oil it turns from a dull brown to 

 a beautiful black color, and the oiliness may be 

 removed. — Journal of the Society of Arts. 



Pisos SIXEKSIS. — The Gardener's Chronicle 



tells us that the trees of Pinus sinensis adjacent 

 to the Wong Lung Kun Monastery, 50 miles from 

 Canton, are very fine indeed ; but they are ex- 

 ceeded in magnificence by those of the So Lia 

 Kun Monastery, secluded at an altitude of about 

 800 feet, where ax of them, within a radius of 

 about 50 yards, in a dense mixed forest of luxur- 

 iant trees, averaged 1 1 feet 7 inches in girth at 6 

 feet from the ground, and about 150 feet in 

 height. The largest of them was 1 5 feet 4 inches 

 in circumference. A pine tree which had been 

 blown down and was being cut up I measured, 

 and found its height to have been 102 feet, circum- 

 ference at 10 feet from the ground 7 feet 10 inches, 

 anti it had seventy-five annnal rings. 



Black Wai.ntt Cui-tcre. — Mr. Graves, of 

 Texas, ten years ago planted ten acres to walnut 

 trees, by hand, two hundred to the acre, in aH 

 two thousand trees. The trees are now nine 

 inches through, and grow at the rate of an inch a 

 year, and when twenty years old they will be 

 worth <2 5 a tree, making the forest worth at that 

 time 550.000. But this is not aU. Last year the 

 trees bore 400 bushels of walnuts, which brought 

 ^2.50 per bushel, making Ji.ooo for the ten acres 

 of land — ^good interest for land worth f 15 per 

 acre. If at the age of twenty years, half of the 

 trees are cut and sold for $25 a tree, or *2;,cioo, 

 the nuts per year from the remaining 1,000 trees 

 will be worth $2,500 a year. 



