S98 TROPICAL AGRICULTURE 



these palms we may mention Borassus Aabelliformis, Raphia 

 vinifera, Attalea funifera, and Corypha umbracuUfera as 

 sources of vegetable ivory suitable for use in making buttons. 



The use of the nuts of the tagua, or vegetable ivory palm, 

 for the manufacture of buttons, dates back about 50 years, 

 when this material first came into notice from nuts shipped out 

 of Ecuador. After a few experiments with the hard kernel 

 of these nuts, vegetable ivory sprang into great favor as a but- 

 ton material. The industry has rapidly increased in Ecuador 

 until at present about 20,000 tons of vegetable ivory nuts are 

 exported annually from Ecuador alone. Constantly increas- 

 ing quantities are also being shipped from Colombia, Panama, 

 and Central America. The tagua palm occurs chiefly near the 

 sea coast from Panama to Peru, but is also found at elevations 

 as high as 2,500 feet. The palm grows slowly, finally attain- 

 ing a height of 10 to 20 feet or rarely 30 feet. The leaves 

 resemble somewhat those of the coconut palm. The first flow- 

 ers appear at the age of 3 or 4 years, the male and female in- 

 florescence differing greatly in appearance. The male flowers 

 appear in a cylindrical spike about 4 feet long, while the fe- 

 male flowers are grouped in a shorter cluster. The tagua 

 palm bears the year round, flowers, immature, and mature 

 fruits occurring on the plant at the same time. The fruit re- 

 sulting from the female inflorescence is in the form of a large, 

 spiny, spherical mass, containing 60 to 90 nuts in clusters of 

 5 or 6. The spiny burr-like covering of the fruit opens at the 

 bottom when mature, allowing the nuts to fall out. 



The kernel of the nut does not reach its maximum of hard- 

 ness until the nut is completely mature. As a rule, therefore, 

 the nuts are gathered from the ground, since, if the whole fruit 

 were removed, some of the nuts would be found to be imma- 

 ture. The vegetable ivory palm begins bearing at 6 years of 

 age and continues to bear merchantable nuts for 50 to 100 

 years. The ordinary price paid to the laborer who gathers 

 the nuts is 50 cents per 100 pounds. 



