Sept. 1900. 



Edible Products . 



most of this area is in the hands of private firms, the government owning but 

 comparatively little. The yerbales are natural forests, and so far little effort 

 has been put forth towards extending them by cultivation. In the days of the 

 Jesuit missionaries in Sonth America the plant was cultivated in the Argentine 

 Province of Missioned and also to some extent in Paraguay, but on the expul- 

 sion of the Order their plantations fell into decay. 



The yerbiles are worked by native labour under European supervision, and 

 the method adopted is That of contract work ; in other words, the company agrees 

 to supply all stores and plant required, and to take as much of the produce as can 

 be sent down to taem at a certain fixed price per 1,000 kdos. The young branches 

 are cub from the trees and taken to a place where a drying hut has been erected. 

 Here, under cover of a roof, they are placed on a species of wooden grid and a fire 

 of aromatic woods kindled under them. The leaves and twigs are constantly 

 turned over and over above this Are until they are dried and crisped. They are 

 then thrown on to a green hide covered floor and broken up into small pieces, 

 after which the product is very tightly rainravl into bags. The next stage is the 

 carting of the bags in bullock carts to the numerous small creeks that flow through 

 the country, and here they are packed into native boats, which gradually find 

 their way down to the R ver Paraguay and eventually into the port of Asuncion, 

 where the grinding mill is situated. 



At the factory the machinery resembles a sort of gigantic coffee mill ; the 

 bags of yerba are emptied into a large iron pan which is revolved at high speed, 

 and the herb is ground into a more or less fine powder and falls into a chamber 

 underneath. There then remains nothing else to be done except to pack it for the 

 market. For the wholesale market bags are used, but for the retail trade it is 

 put up in tins, in packets, and in other foL-ms. 



From Paraguay it is exported to almost every country in South America, 

 but the Argeutine Republic seems to take by far the greater portion of the surplus 

 available for export. Some idea of the importance of the trade will be gained 

 when it is stated that this surplus reaches the enormous total of five million 

 pounds annually. 



The habit of taking mat<$ is common to the continent. In the early morning 

 both in town and in the camp it is taken in much the same way as we take tea; 

 in the afternoon it is the same, and often tenor a dozen times during the day the 

 kettle is boiled to make the decoction. The method of making and taking it is as 

 follows : A small gourd is taken and a spoonful of the herb placed in it ; the gourd 

 is then filled with water as hot as it is possible to obtain it, sugar may be added 

 if it is desired or if it be available, but in the majority of cases it is voluntarily 

 dispensed with; the mixture is then sucked up through a small tube called a 

 bombilla. The creraony of taking mate" is rather an ordeal, whether it be taken in a 

 house in town or in an Indian encampment ; it is the greatest compliment that 

 cau be offered to a visitor, and to refuse is to cast a slight upon your hostess. The 

 mate is called for, and the infusion being made, the hostess first takes a sip through 

 the bomoilla, it is then passed to the guest, and he in turn after his sip passes it 

 on to his neighbour. This maybe repeated at intervals as loug as the call lasts. 

 The great art in making it is to have the water boiling and to sip it whilst very hot. 

 It m ly also be infused in the same way as ordinary tea and drunk from a tea cup, 

 but this is not the usual method nor does it improve the flavour, in fact it spoils 

 it to many peoples' taste. The flavour of the decoction is at once bitter and 

 astringent, but not, even at first, disagreeably so, yet no one taking it for the first 

 time could avoid making a grimace over it. The taste is easy of acquisition, and 

 once acquired hard indeed to get rid of. It is more seductive even than tobacco, 

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