SHADE TREES AND CATCH CROPS. 77 



ness in the trunk is about 1 inch, and even in trees 60 years old or over is about 

 nine-tenths of an inch. 



The planting of mahogany with cacao or coffee is, however, of doubtful advisabil- 

 ity, since for best results in timber the mahogany trees should be planted close 

 enough together to cover the ground from an early period, 10 feet apart, to be 

 thinned later to 40 feet, being the suggested figures. Otherwise growth will be 

 slow, particularly in height, so that if set far enough apart to enable coffee to be cul- 

 tivated to advantage the value of the timber would not be great. Morris recom- 

 mends mahogany for windbreaks for cacao plantations in Jamaica. 



Tamarind. (See Ta mar Indus indica.) 



Tamarindus indica. Tamarind. 



The tamarind is given by Lecomte as one of the trees used for shading coffee in 

 Arabia. Being a member of the Leguminosae, it may be worthy of consideration, 

 particularly if proper methods of utilizing the fruit can be worked out. As a shade 

 tree for general purposes the tamarind will probably not be found desirable. The 

 foliage, though fine and delicate, is too dense, and the shadow too dark. Moreover, 

 little or nothing in the way of minor vegetation is usually to be found under tama- 

 rind trees, and in some countries they are thought to give off unwholesome acid 

 exhalations injurious to those who may sleep under them, or even to the cloth of 

 tents pitched in their vicinity. The tamarind is planted very commonly in Porto 

 Rico and other tropical countries for the sake of the fleshy edible pods, which have 

 a pleasant, decidedly sour taste, due to the presence of several vegetable acids, 

 including citric and tartaric. According to the Treasury of Botany, the tamarinds 

 of the East differ from those of Porto Rico and the other West Indies in that the 

 pods have a brittle brown shell and contain from 6 to 12 seeds instead of from 1 to 4. 

 Considerable quantities of tamarinds are imported into Europe and America, either 

 dried or preserved in sirup. They are largely used in the preparation of acid cool- 

 ing drinks, and are believed to have a beneficial laxative effect. In British India 

 and elsewhere a large variety of other medicinal qualities are claimed for the tama- 

 rind as an ingredient of preserves, confections, and popular remedies, proprietary 

 and otherwise, but these claims do not seem to have been either verified or refuted 

 by investigation. 



Tannia (French West Indies). (See Colocasia esculenta.) 

 Tannier (Trinidad). {Colocasia esculenta.) 

 Tare (Coorg, India). (See Terminalia belerica.) 

 Taro (Polynesia). (See Colocasia esculenta.) 

 Tayaux. (See Colocasia esculenta.) 

 Teak. (See Tectona grandis.) 



Tectona grandis. Teak. 



Family Verbenaceae. According to Raoul, this tree has the same disadvantage as 

 Cedrela toona. 

 Terminalia belerica. 



Common name. — Tare (Coorg, India). 

 Family Combretaceae. A forest tree left standing for shade in coffee plantations. 

 (Cameron.) 



Terminalia latifolia. 



Common name. — Broad-leaf. 

 Recommended in Jamaica for windbreaks about cacao plantations. 



