^jO T^IlE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [Oct 1, 1899. 
The cultivation of this shrub has assamed such 
proportions that in the interior of the country there 
are whole forests of mate. Mr. Barbier, who was 
Bent by the French Government ou a scientific 
mission to South America, estimates that more than 
11,000,000 people use mate. 
In a volume published in Paris in 1716 occurs the 
following description: 
" During the day, they mfike much use of the herb 
of Paraguay, which some call St. Bartholomew's herb, 
who, they pretend, came into that Province, where he 
made it wholesome and beneficial, wheieas, before it 
was venomous. Being only brought dry, and almost 
in powder, I cannot describe it. Instead of drinldng 
the tincture, or infusion, apart, as we ariuk tea, they 
put the herb into a cup or bowl, made of a calabash 
or gourd, tipped with silver, which they call mate; 
they add sugar, and pour on it the hot water, which 
they drink immediately, without giving it time to 
infuse, because it turns as black as ink To avoid 
drinking the herb, which swims at the top, they 
make use of a silver pipe, at the end whereof is a 
bowl, full of little hole?, so that the liquor sucked in 
at the other end is clear from the herb. They drink 
round from the same pipe, pouring hot water on the 
herb as it ia drank oif. Instead of a pipe, which they 
call homhilla; some part the herb with a silver separa- 
tion, called o^artarfo?-, full of little holes." 
The IMinister from Brazil to the United Statts 
Senhor Joaquin Francisco de Assis (Brazil) prepared 
an article tor the Bureau of American Republics, 
describing yerba mate, which comes to the market 
in the form of broken leaves, coarse powder, or in 
stalks, and is prepared by infusion in boiling water, 
like tea. It is taken with or \\ithout sugar, accord- 
ing to individual taste. Mate is also prepared in a 
small vessel called cida, from which the tea is sucked 
by means of a tube which terminates in a hollow 
perforated sphei e called a boniba. 
Doctor Peckholt, of Rio de Janeiro, makes the fol- 
lowing comparative analysis of green tea, black tea, 
coffee and mate : 
[In 1,000 parts.] 
Essential oil 
Chlorophyl 
Resin 
Tannin 
Caffeine ortheine 
Green tea. Black tea. Ci ffee. Ma te. 
7.90 
22.20 
22-20 
178-00 
■150 
Extract matter, etc. ^169.00 
Fibres and cellulose 175.80 
Ashes 85.60 
6.00 
18-14 
36.40 
128 8U 
4.80 
390.1.0 
28.S-20 
54-40 
0,41 0,01 
13,66 62.00 
13.66 2U.6y 
1(3 39 12 28 
2.66 2.50 
270.67 238.83 
174.83 180.00 
25.61 38.11 
From this analysis, Doctor Caminhoa, professor of 
the faculty of medicine of Rio de Janeiro, draws the 
following conclusions ; 
pirat — Mate contains less essential oil, is less sti- 
mulating than coffee, black or green tea, and is, 
therefore, a beverage especially suited to nervous 
people, women, and children. 
Second — Mate contains more resin than coffee, less 
than green tea, and very much less than black tea ; 
it is, therefore, more diuretic than coffee, and as a 
stimulant rivals green tea. 
The opinion of Doctor Caminhoa has been con- 
firmed by other scientific men, among whom may be 
cited Doctor Lancaster, superintendent of the depart- 
mcnt of animal and food products of the South Ken- 
sington Museum ; Doctor Schnepp, assistant inspector 
of the Bonnes waters, and Doctor Conty, the French 
savant, besides many others who have used and 
analysed the product. 
Mate is prepared by infusion or decoction. Ordi- 
narily one uses 25 grams of Mate to 1 liter of 
water, but this, of course, is regulated according 
to the individual taste. It is allowed to steep ten 
to fifteen minutes, and after being strained is served. 
It ia sweetened to taste, and a little milk or rum is 
sometimes added. The use of utensils of iron should 
be avoided, as they give a dark color to the beverage. 
On account of its peculiar taste, mate is frequently 
not liked at fii'^t. It Acts as a j'owerful tonii;, es- 
pecially for invalids and those who are given to 
excessive physical or intellectual labors, and for all 
those who endeavour to solve the problem of excellent 
nourishment at a small expense. The journal La 
France declares that it was mate that enabled Doctor 
Tanner to endure forty days of fasting. 
Mate is a quencher of thirst [jar e-i-celleuce and a great 
restorative. It is a beverage specially adapted to 
men of studious habits to whom the use of coffee 
is harmful, as it gives the same results without un- 
duly exciting the nervous system. It may be drunk 
cold, but it is generally served hot, and lovers of 
mate, absorb it by means of a homhilLa, which is a 
diminutive homha. 
In Brazil the collection of mate ia begun in De- 
cember and continues until August. A company of 
gatherers set out, taking with tliem such provisions, 
tools, and cattle as are required for the expedition. 
On arriving at a suitable locality, they fstablish a 
camp or ranch, and immediately begin to gather 
mate, which is dried and packed ou the grounds. 
The process is as follows : The leafy branches of the 
mate are cut down and placed in a pit about 6 feet 
square, where they undergo a roasting from a bright 
tire. This operation demands much care, since it ia 
upon this process that the aroma of the mate de- 
pends, and the required amount of heat is only 
learned by long experience. After two or three days 
of drying, the leaves are reduced to coarse powder, 
and are packed in serons or bags made of raw 
hides, which are then exposed to the sun.* 
The quality of the mate varies according to its 
origin and the method of preparation. That which 
is gathered from regions along the coast is the 
poorest, being less rich in gum and resin and having 
less aroma than that from the interior of Parana 
Paraguay. Leaves a year old have few of the pro- 
perties required, while those of four or five years, 
being darker in color, thicker, and having a larger num- 
ber of glands, give the best ma.tii.— American Grocer. 
Tea in India. — Unless manuring is taken in 
liaini enerp;etically, the sliuttinj,' up of the larger 
portion of the Surma Valley plantation.'^ is merely 
a question of time— say.s The Indian Planters^ 
Gazette. We have heard even old jilanter?, em- 
ployed on these places, congratulate them.selves 
upon being able to get a thirty-mile nerrif^k clone 
on such lands, not reflecting upon the unprofita- 
bleness of constantly turning up simple sand 
that results in a poor sixpenny average tea. It 
is not going too far to say that all north of the 
Puttareah range, and as high np as the nieriilian 
of the Gooinrali in north-west Cachar, tliere is 
not one concern that can be classed as a first-rate 
garden. They may be kept going, but only by 
the adoption of the means we have pointed eut. 
We are fully aware that there are in the area 
indicated isolated patches of good productive land, 
but these bear but a very small proportion to the 
rest ot the property, as is proved by the averages 
obtained for the factories' outturn. Were it 
feasible to keep the produce of these plots sepa- 
rate from the rest of the outturn, things might 
improve, but unfortunately in bulking the whole 
gets mixed together, hence the stronger leaf is 
pulled down by the more insipid and weak. 
Manuring would go a great way to ensure uni- 
formity ; the want which in our Indian teas 
forms "the chief complaint of dealers, and we must 
admit this complaint is justifiable. 
* This was the primitive method of preparing 
mate. To-day, however, perfected machinery doe« 
the same work better and more rapidly in large 
central mills, whither the prodnet of an entire clia< 
trict 16 taken, 
