-386 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXI. 



-as it is teclmically called, consisting of the closely imbricating 

 young leaf-stalks, is cut off and trimmed down to a diameter of 

 ■about 8 inches. In this form the bud is received at the factory, 

 where the soft edible core, consisting of the youngest leaves, is 

 removed, leaving a cylinder with w^alls about 3 inches in thickness. 

 This is boiled and shredded by machinery specially devised for the 

 purpose, and when the fibre is dried, it is ready for the brush- 

 maker. One factory in Jacksonville, Florida, used (1896) weekly 

 7,500 buds obtained chiefly from the west coast of the peninsula. 

 As only young and healthy trees are used, and as the removal of 

 ihe bud kills the tree, the industry is a wasteful and expensive one, 

 destined to exterminate the Palmetto. Its existence is also threat- 

 -ened by the use for culinary purposes of the cabbage, or termi 

 nal bud, which is considered a great delicacy by the negroes of the 

 i-Southern States of N. America. 



Sleeping mats are made from the young leaves, and hats from 

 -the inner portion of the young leaves. They are said to be very 

 .cheap and durable. From the same material fancy baskets are 

 made, also rope of the young leaves split and twisted. 



Historical Note. — The Cabbage Palmetto has played an 

 important part in the history of South Carolina. On June 28, 

 1776, a force of less than one hundred Carolinians, under command of 

 Moultrie, protected by the rude fortification on Sullivan's Island in 

 Charleston Harbour, made of the trunks of the Palmetto, repulsed 

 the attack of a British fleet under command of Sir Peter Parker, 

 and when the State of South Carolina was organized, the State seal, 

 which was first iised in May 1777, was made to commemorate this 

 victory. A palm-tree growing erect on the seashore represents 

 the strength of the fort, while at its base an oak-tree torn from 

 the ground and deprived of its branches recalls the British fleet 

 built of oak timber overcome by the Palmetto. i 



Cultivation. — It is remarkable that 8abal palmetto, which 

 might be expected to be the hardiest of all arborescent palms, has 

 remained comparatively rare in gardens. A plant has long been 

 cultivated in the Palm House of the Royal Gardens at Kew and the 



1 John Drayton. Memoirs of the American Revolution, II, 372. 



