466 QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. [1 June, 1902. 
CEARA WAX. 
The South American Journal (says Planting Opinion) recently published 
‘an article from a contributor regarding “carnauba wax” called Ceara wax in 
the United States, which is characterised as “one of the most curious products 
of Nature, and is produced in the form of a powder or a dust on the leaves of 
the carnauba palm-tree (Coryplia cerifera).” This variety of the palm is to be 
found in vast numbers on the margins of the River Jaguaribe and its affluents 
in all the districts of Aracity, as well as along other rivers in the State of 
‘Ceara, Brazil. It is also to be found in smaller areas in the adjoining States of 
Piauchy, Parahyba, and the Rio Grande do Norte. 
Although the tree has many other qualities which render it of service to 
man, its most valuable product is its wax. Last year the amount of this wax 
exported was about 1,000 tons. One firm in Aracity sent over 500 tons to the 
United States and Europe. The United States consumes the largest quantity 
in the manufacture of “arama and gramophone record cylinders. The wax 
is also used in stearine candle preparations for the purpose of giving the candle 
firmness and adding lustre and brilliancy to the flame. Another use is to give 
lustre to yellow and russet boots and shoes and to harness, while it is also used 
as a polish for hardwood floors. 
} The crop is gathered and prepared from September to March, being the 
‘summer season in Ceara. In favourable seasons the tree is richest in wax 
about the middle of January. From each tree about six young leaves not yet 
fully opened are gathered by means of pruning shears fixed upon a long pole, 
and this is repeated twice more during the season. The first quality of wax is 
‘produced from the tenderest leaves. Generally it takes from 2,000 to 3,000 
deayes to produce enough powder or dust to make 15 kilograms of wax. The 
leaves, when gathered and selected—first and second qualities—are laid out in 
the sun to dry for two or three days. When dry they may be put into a store- 
house for an indefinite time or until required for use by the producer. The 
leaves are then covered by a whitish dust or powder, which is brushed off in a 
tightly closed room. The leaves are then beaten with switches, the dust fallin 
to the floor. The dust is afterwards swept up, placed in a tin vessel half full 
of boiling water, and kept boiling for fifteen or twenty minutes, when the wax 
gathers in a mass on the top of the water. It is then removed and placed in a 
coarse-meshed, cotton cloth strainer to allow any water to drain off... When 
dry the result is a mass of white yellow, hard, vitreous wax. After the powder 
has been extracted, the palm leaves are used in the manufacture of hats, matting, 
and brooms. A fibre called ‘‘tucum”’ is also obtained from the leaves, while in 
some parts of the country the leaves are used in thatching houses. The fruit 
of the tree has a black pulp of a sweetish taste, and is eaten both by human 
beings and animals. The seed resembles a small cocoanut, and makes good food 
for pigs. It is also used as an adulterant for roasted coffee after it is ground. 
On this wax the State of Ceard collects an export duty of 10 per cent., 
with 5 per cent. additional on the official value, which is declared every month. 
—Bureau American Republics. 
COFFEE MACHINERY. 
We lately inspected two machines (which are here illustrated) for 
manipulating coffee at the Phanix Foundry at Cairns. Of them Mr. Newport, 
Instructor in Coffee Culture, writes as follows :— 
The coffee-pulping machine portrayed in Fig. 1 is.a small pulper on the 
disc principle. It has all the modern improvements in the way of brass screws 
for setting the chops, and being entirely of iron, steel, and copper or brass is a 
machine that will not readily wear or get out of order. The hopper or box 
above the disc, into which the water and cherry coffee goes, is of tin, and is to 
prevent, by gravitation in the water, stones or foreign substances passing into 
the machine and damaging it, as well as to ensure regularity of feed. The 
work of these machines is good, and has been tested and approved by the 
Instructor in Coffee Culture, and several of them are in use and are giving 
