The weekly democratic statesman. [volume] (Austin, Tex.) 1871-1883, 1871-08-24
origin of 1he Spices.

AAOh R0AOANO oAh AAOOOoSAs
Origin of the Spices. $500.
Nutmeg is the kernel of small,
smooth, pear-shaped, nut that grows
on tree in the Molucca Islands and
other parts of the East. The trees.
commence bearing in their seventh
year, and continue fruitful until sew
enty or eighty years old. Around the
nutmeg, or kernel, is bright brown
shell. This shell has soft scarlet
covering, which, when fattened out,
is known as mace. The best nutmegs
are solid, and emit oil when pricked
with a pin. .Ll .El taE i5
Ginger is the root of shrub first
known in Asia, and now cultivated
in Sierra Leone. The stem grows
three or four feet high, and dies
every year. There are two varieties
of ginger-the white and the black
caused by taking more or less care
in selecting and preparing the roots,
which are always dug in the winter,
when the stems are Withered. The
white is the best. e
Cinnamon is the inner bark of
beautiful tree, native of Ceylon,
that grows from twenty to thirty feet
in hight, and lives to be centuries
old. The United States has import
ed nearly $4,000 worth of CHINA
mon in a single year. ~ -.t
Cloves-natives of the Molucca
Islands-are so called from their re-
semblance to nail (claUis). The
East Indians call them changketh,
from the Chinese tchengkia fragrant
nailsl. They grow on a straight,
smooth-barked tree, about forty feet
high. Cloves are not fruits, but
blossoms gathered before they are.
quite unfolded. .- .-.I
Allspice-a berry so called be-
cause it combines the odors of sew
eral spices-grows abundantly on
the beautiful allspice or bayberry
tree, native of South America and
the West Indies. A single tree has
been known to produce one hundred
and fifty pounds of berries. They
are purple when ripe. .--
Black pepper is made by grinding
the dried berry of a climbing vine,
native to the East Indies. White
pepper is obtained from the same ber-
ries, freed from their husks or rind.
Red or Cayenne pepper is obtained
by grinding the scarlet pod, or seed
vessel, of a tropical plant that is now
cultivated in almost all parts of the
world. Hearth and Home.
THE Houston Union has been
shown by a gentleman of that city a
letter addressed to him from fax
spinner in Newark, New Jersey,
from which it makes the following
extracts: lao =. ...-.e
Your last favor, covering the small
specimen of ramie, an natureL, was
duly received. Since my last report
l have been into the thread spinners,
and the prospect thus far is faVorar
BILE. One of the heaviest spinning
houses has taken the sample pound
you sent me by mail to the factory
at Patterson, to have it hacked.
From the appearance it presented
they were favorably impressed, and
now there seems nothing wanting but
to know the price at which the ramie
can be furnished, and in what guam
titles, to understand to what extent
it can be introduced.
Ramie will have to be sold so as
to compete with fax, which, 1 would
think, from what little I have learned
on the subject, could be done, and
pay well. The price of American
fax is fifteen to twenty five cents per
pound, or $500 to $500 per ton of
1000 pounds, while the best foreign
varies from twenty to forty cents per
pound, or $500 to $500 per ton. 1
should think that the ramie might be
furnished at a price so much less, or
at least enough lower, as to almost
entirely take the place of fax.
SCARCELY a week passes but we
read accounts of frightful accidents
from kerosene lamps exploding and
killing or soaring for life men, wo-
men and children. A simple knowl-
edge of the inhammable nature of
the liquid may put stop to nearly
all the accidents. AS the oil burns
down in the lamp infammable gas
gathers over the surface: When the
oil is nearly consumed, a slight jar
will infame the gas, and an explosion
follows. If the lamp is not allowed
to burn over half way down, acci>
dents are almost impossible.
THE claim that the maize, or Indian
corn plant, is indigenous to the soil
of the New World, has lately been
contested, and recent investigation of
certain Chinese records are
cited to prove that 1t was cultivated
in China prior to the discovery of
America. China authors maintain
that it came originally from countries
west of China, and that it was intro
duced into that country long before
the first arrival of the Portuguese, in
1917.
Morgan county can boast of the
largest hog in Illinois, and probably
in the world. This monster animal
is owned by Capt. Wright, of the
Franklin precinct, and weighs thirteen
hundred and ffty.fve pounds. The
captain is preparing to exhibit the
! huge creature through the country.