250 AGRICULTURAL, APPROPRL\T10N BILL, 1924. 



Mr. JJuciiANAN. 'I'liat is the yaupon work? 



Mr. Ca-MPBELL. Yes; and I think you said that the discovery of 

 any utihtarian purpose to which this could be placed would be a 

 godsend tc) some of the southern States. 



Mr. Buc HA.NAX. I said there was plenty of yaupon in the southern 

 States. 



Mr. Ca-mpukll. Yes. We made an arranjijement to establish a 

 small exj)erim('ntal station near Charleston. S. C, and the work has 

 been done in an extremely economical way because of our ability to 

 borrow a lot of material that was reciuired, and we found out that a 

 very satisfactory beveraji:e can be made from this. South America 

 very largely uses verba mate as its drink instead of tea. You take 

 the Argentine Republic, and the supply of yerba mate is approxi- 

 mately 143,0()(),()l)() pounds. They produce themselves less than 

 2.000, 000 pounds of that and they depend on the northern part of the 

 continent for the remainder of their supply. Now. the utilization of 

 casina, or the yaupon bush, as a beverage of the same sort as that 

 used in South America has an economic significance which can be 

 appreciated at once. Very naturally, there must be determined some 

 plan by which that beverage can be made in an economical way. 

 One of the reasons for the high cost of tea is the fact that the leaves 

 are hand picked in a very careful way, and an attempt to manu- 

 facture the casina product or leaves into a foundation for beverage 

 making, in a fashion comparable to the production of tea, is some- 

 thing which is entirely too costly. 



Mr. BrciiANAN. You said they would treat them with steam and 

 then they would break off ( 



Mr. Campbkll. That is right, and that is what we are doing, but 

 if you treat them with steam an action takes place which prevents 

 them from fermenting, so that what we have (lone witli that condi- 

 tion is this: That by taking the small cjuantity of leaves which can 

 be obtained by hand picking and running them through the rollers 

 at the same time the juice that exudes from the leaves which have 

 not been sterilized or steamed is sufficient to infect the wliole that 

 you run through the rollers, and thus you make possible the subse- 

 <|uent fermentation that is desired in order to put the material out 

 in tlie form (Icsired; it is actually being put on tne market now in an 

 expeiimcntiil way. 



l.KATMKK AM) I'ATEU INDUSTKY. 



Out of this same fund we are, in our leather and paper laboratorv. 

 giving consideration to the leather situation of the country. ^Ve 

 recognize that there is a l)i*^ lield of work in ft^stering the more 

 economic employment of leather and hides ami the better utilization 

 niid prrpnnitioii of these hides. The spread between tlie price the 

 fariMcr gels for hides and the nrice at which he has to buy leather 

 has been a matter of universal protest on the part of the farming 

 industry. 



In the last few years we hiiM' issued hulh'tins on the better treat- 

 ment (»f liitles; how to picpare them in a manner to get the maximum 

 pri<(' for I hem, and also on the treatment and keeping of leather. 

 I'here are several lines «»f work that ought to be taken up in connec- 

 li<»ii with thai. We recognize that in this country the supply of 

 hides and leather is hy no means ade(|uate for our (ieinands and that 



