February i, 1892] 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
S3S 
aorea of land for which the Ute husband of the 
former, and father of the latter, paid three 
thousand pouuda aterling (or 30,0001000 in Brazilian 
currenoj). 
The minciro's mode of farming was a peculiar 
one, and not at all likely to improve the land or 
make it what wa oould call first olaea for ooffee 
growing afterwards. 
Hia syatcm waa to fell the finest virgin forest, 
clear the land, by burning the withered branohea, 
and plant the clearing with Indian corn, with a fair 
apiiukling of pumpkin seeds. Virgin foroat haa no 
weeds, and oonacquentiy no work waa required until 
the corn was ripe; only what waa needed for home 
consumption waa picked, then a drove of pigs were 
turned into the corn fields to fatten. These porkers 
grew to a good size and put on a large quantity of 
fat. The mode of preparing the pork for the market 
waa thus. After the pig waa killed a heap of corn 
straw waa piled on the top of the caroaae, this was 
set fire to, and the burnt hair, and flakea of outside 
skin came easily off, the pig waa then out in two 
longitudinally, the bones carefully taken out, deep 
outs, three inches apart, were made across in the 
inside, these outs were filled with salt. Kaoh half 
carcass waa matio into a roll, and put in a 
rough bambu basket, made the size. It waa 
then ready for the market. If the farmer had 
a troop of mules himself, he would take these 
baskets with thrir contents loaded on pack saddles 
to sell, Bometimea going as far as the capital to 
find a market for this class of goods which got 
the name of toucinlw. There waa also no want of 
local agents, owners of troops of mules, who would 
buy toucinho at so much an arroba of 15 kilos, 
and send it to the best paying market. 
Many of the more industrious of the farmers 
grow tobacco: the leaves were half dried, twisted 
like a rope of many strands with a “ thraw crook,” 
and the rope rolled on a stick. The ends of this 
stick projected, the tolls were put on end, leaning 
against a wall or a fence rail. The black juice 
Would ooze out and drain towards the lower end, 
and when this was noticed the roll would bo turned 
end for end. This fermenting process was con- 
tinued for some days until the sweating ceased. 
Borne farmers had a famous reputatiou for curing 
tobacco, and tobacco from some special districts 
was coneidored extra fine, and sold at a high price. 
The same system of curing in Minas and S. Paul's 
tobacco still continues. In the consuming of the 
weed the country people out their tobacco from a 
piece of the roll which they carry in their pocket, 
and make cigarettes with fine maize straw, every 
time they smoke. But in towns tobacconists have 
machines for cutting it up like" bird's eye" for sale or 
for tnaking cigarettes. There is a largo consumption 
of cigarettos all over South America, made from 
both paper and Indian corn straw. The Brazilian 
prefers the latter. The habit of smoking is common 
both amongst males and females. It is noticeable 
amongst the lower claEscs that tho female always 
smokes a pipe, with a clay bowl, and a stick for a 
shank. The stick is got from the branch of a particular 
bush which in place of pith has a small perforation 
down the centre. The males both of the upper 
and lower classes nearly always smoko cigarettes. 
I have noticed that in some parts of the littoral 
of the Province of Bio de Janeiro the smoker 
carries a bundle of leaves in hia pockets, makes 
hia own cigar and smokes it in one's presence, 
generally offering at tho same time the cigar to the 
person with whom ha may be conversing. 
Bmall patches of cane were also grown, and the 
product after supplying the needs of the family 
Was made (into briokettes, rolled in banana or 
corn leaves, something like your jaggary— but 
called hero rapndura. The cane crushing was done 
with wooden vertical rollers with bullocks, and the 
ooncentraling of tho juice was effected in a large 
copper boiler. Query has the word " sugar " come 
from “jaggery’’ or “jaggery" from “sugar" 7 You 
orientals ought to know it the latter word or the 
Tamil “ sakara ” — was in use.bofore Vasoo da Qama 
made his famous voyage I" 
The very poor people in these parts use the pure 
juice of tho cane instead of water and sugar in 
the preparing of the cheering but not intoxicating 
liquors made from coffee, mate and the eongonba. 
The former|two wo were all well acquainted with, but I 
myself did not know of the latter at least by name. It 
was only on my recent visit to Minas that my attention 
was called to it . Congonba in my opinion is a kind of 
mate. Ilex Paraguaiensis. — Thera are two kinds of it 
in Minas, one congonha de matto (forest), the other 
congonha de eampo (patana). The leaves are used 
green as they are taken from the bush. They are 
dried hastily in an oven or at the open fire, then put 
into the tea-pot along with a few small pieces of 
burning charcoal and well shaken together, water is 
then added, and the charcoal skimmed off the top 
of the liquid which after a few minutes is ready for 
drinking. Its refreshing effects are similar to those 
of tea or coffee. 
I mentioned before that in these parte the people 
produced tho raw material which they made into 
cloth for clothing which waa not confined entirely 
to cotton ; woolen blankets and sometimes com- 
plete Bulls, could be seen of good “home spun.” 
Thus in their simple state lived the people in 
the West of the Province of Sio Paulo and South 
of Minos Gcraes. What they require 1 from out- 
side their own homes was little. 
But a mighty oivil'zing agency was at work in 
the cast. The calm peacefulness of these regions 
waa doomed to bo intruded on, in a few years 
by that giant of colonial development— a railway. 
At the time of O. A. G.’s visit along with the 
writer, 1876, the railway had been opened as far 
as Kiobl&re on the 6' 3" gauge, and to Mogymirim 
on the metre, those two places being the farthest 
west-ward that coffee planting extended. As soon 
as it began to be noticed that tho Mogyana 
railway was to be a paying one, no time was 
lost in raising capital tor its extension. The 
capital was supplied by wealthy capitalists, and 
planters in tho country. 
• In answer to this question we quote as followa 
from Yale's "Ho''«on Jobson " : — 
SuoXB, s. This familiar word is of Sanskrit origin. 
Sarkara otiginslly Bignifiea ‘grit or gravel,’ thence 
crystallized sng.r, and through a Prakrit form sakkam 
gave the P.’rsiau shakkar, the Greek adxxap and 
adexapov, and the late hatin aaccharum. The Arable 
is sukkaT,oe with the article a.i-sul-iar, and it is probable 
that our'mo'l ei n 1 orms. It . xucchero %nisucehero, Kr. sucre. 
Germ, Zucker, Eng. xngar, came, as well as the Span. 
azucar and Port, asaucar, from the Arabic direct, and not 
through Latin or Grock.* In fact tho ancient know- 
ledge of tho product was slight and vague, and it was 
by tho Arabs that the cultivation of the sugarcane 
was inlri'duotd iuto Egypt, Sicily, and Andalusia. It 
is possible iniiocd, and not improbable, that palm-sugar 
(SCO JaOoert) ia a much older prodnot thin that of 
the oaiie. The original habitat of tho latter is not 
kn-'Wn; there is only a alight snd doubtful statement of 
Loureiro, who, in speaking of Oochin-China, uses the 
words “ habitat et colitnr" — which may imply its exist- 
ence in a wild stnt,*, as well as under cultivation, in 
that country. Bi Candolle assigns its earliest pro- 
dustiou to the country extending from Oochin-China 
to Bengal. 
•The Russian is aakhar ; Polish, zukier ; Hung,, 
zukur. 
