934 FEUIT CULTUEE IN FOEEIGN COUNTEIES. 



he caa put them iu the basket, case, or hoop, and, decorated with peach 

 or laurel leaves, they are pressed in the form in which they are known 

 to commerce over the world. 



EAISINS. 



Kone are raised or prepared in this district. There are vineyards, 

 but not for raisins. They are situated on the hill or mountain sides. 



The fruit is sold in the markets to be eaten fresh, though they keep 

 them fresh for a long time. These grapes are sweet and luscious to the 

 taste. They are thus strongly impressed upon my recollection. Those 

 not used thus are made into wine, of which that from Bellet has ac- 

 quired a local celebrity. 



This trade is not sufficiently extensive iu comparison with other parts 

 of France to justify a description. 



Thomas Wilson, 



Consul. 

 United States Consulate, 



Ifiee, September 13, 1884. 



THE MANGOSTEEN. 



REPORT BY CONSUL STUDBR, OF SINOAPORE. 



[Republished from Consular Reports, No. 10.] 



TANNIC QUALITIES. 



For the benefit of such among our public as are engaged in the manu- 

 facture of leather, and who may take an interest in what I am about to 

 state, I have the honor to inform the Department that iu the local paper, 

 the Daily Times, of the 3d instant, appeared a very interesting as well 

 as important article (taken from a Java paper), of which the follow- 

 ing is a true copy : 



Mr. G. Naeff, at Lochan, has made a comparative examination of mangosteen shells 

 and oak bark to determine the value of the former as tanning material in leather 

 making. It appeared therefrom that the mangosteen shells contain one-sixth more 

 tannin than oak bark, and that the value of the f rmer may, therefore, be set at about 

 7-i guilders per 100 kilograms. 



I think it was well that this comparison between mangosteen shells 

 and oak bark was made. I regard this new discovery as very important, 

 in view of the fact that many of our valuable "hard- wood forests'' in 

 the Eastern and Middle and, in a great measure, our Western States, 

 have either entirely disappeared or become denuded of oak trees, and 

 this, too, near or around leather manufacturing districts. True, many 

 substitutes for oak bark, such as hemlock, gambler, and other materials 

 have been resorted to, but none of these, I believe, are able to take the 



