August, 1911.) 



168a 



Review. 



Uses of Algaroba (Tagalog, Aroma). 

 (Press Bulletin No. 26.) 



As a forage crop Algaroba (Prosopis 

 juliflora) is of great financial value, 

 The pods are recognized as one of the 

 most important grain feeds of the 

 Islands of Hawaii, and are greatly 

 relished by all kinds of live stock, in- 

 cluding chickens. The quantities of 

 pods produced by the algaroba forests 

 cannot be estimated even approxi- 

 mately, for a large proportion of the 

 pods are allowed to fall on the ground 

 and are eaten by cattle, hogs and horses, 

 without being previouly picked up. It 

 has been estimated that approximately 

 five hundred thousand bags of the beans 

 are annually picked up and stored, 

 particularly for feeding horses and 

 cattle. On two or three estates at least 

 fifteen thousand bags of beans are 

 annually stored for this purpose. 



Aroma, which is very like Algaroba, if 

 not identical with it, grows admirably 



in the Philippines, where it can be found 

 along sea-shores and elsewhere, and 

 with a little labour and practically no 

 expenses an excellent protein diet can 

 be secured from it. It i^ time for our 

 farmers to pay more attention to feed- 

 ing their animals properly, and in these 

 Islands where there is abundant forage 

 stuff, there is no excuse for having 

 labouring animals underfed. 



There are other uses of Algaroba. Its 

 wood constitutes one of the best sources 

 of fuel, and the small brauches furnish 

 excellent material for making charcoal. 

 The bark contains tannin, and is used in 

 the Philippines as a dye stuff ; its gum is 

 suitable for use in varnish. The tree 

 itself, being leguminous, is also a soil- 

 maker of some importance. Moreover, 

 the pcds contain a high percentage of 

 sugar and may be used in the manu- 

 facture of denatured alcohol and 

 vinegar. 



Review, 



THE RUBBER-COUNTRY OF 

 THE AMAZON. 



By H. 0. Pearson, 

 Editot of the India- Rubber World, 

 , Svo., New York, 1911. 



This is an account of the author's 

 journey to the Amazon rubber country 

 to attend the Rubber Congress, and is 

 a witty and amusing book to read, 

 though the amount of solid information 

 to be gathered by any one really 

 interested in rubber is not very great. 

 There are, however, some important 

 paragraphs here and there. For 

 example, on p. 49 Dr. Huber's theory of 

 the greater nerve of the Amazon rubber 

 is quoted, and is the same which we 

 overselves have arrived at, that it is 

 due to the rubber drying under con- 

 tinuous pressure. 



The author found less adulteration 

 than is often supposed to go on : the 

 commonest adulterant is also to be 

 found in Ceylon, and is better therefore 

 not mentioned. 



By piecing together the paragraphs 

 of information that are sandwiched 

 between the entertaining personal para- 



graphs, one learns that a great variety 

 of nuts may be used for smoking — not 

 only the two usually quoted. This goes 

 to show that the smoking — as smoking — 

 is not the valuable thing, but that it is 

 the coagulation with the acetic acid 

 formed in the smoke, the keeping anti- 

 septic with the creosote, and the drying 

 under pressure. 



The season lasts 3-6 months (the river 

 rises from December to May) and tap- 

 ping is daily or every other day. The 

 yield per tree is doubtful, but the 

 author inclines to think Markham's 

 estimate of 3-7 lbs. a tree a season about 

 the average. 



The new railway (Madeira-Mamore) 

 beiner constructed to avoid the falls on 

 the Madeira will render a good deal of 

 rubber country much more accessible 

 than at present. The rubber country of 

 Bolivia and Peru is also touched upon. 



The use of special preservatives, and 

 of Eastern Coagulation methods, has 

 not been seriously taken up, though a 

 few smoking machines such as the Da 

 Costa have been invented. 



The book is worth reading, and is in 

 no sense dull, but a very sprightly 

 account of the author's experiences. 



