Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1871-08-25
THE CTRTOSETIES OF U.gLKr.rG
STICKS.

a Surprising fact connected with the
manufacture of walkng-sticks in London,
is the immense foreign trade which it Gre
ates. Tons of material for this purpose are
constantly arriving, and are sold privately
or by public auction to the stick makers.
An unpractised person would at once pro-
nounce them valueless. Fashion in this
branch of trade as well as in any other,
regulates the demand for certain kinds.
At the present and for some time past, says
Il magazine writer, pimenta sticks have
been in great demand both for walkingand
for umbrella sticks. For the former
purpose they are manufactured into al
most every variety of fancful patterns by
stat ming, carving, and other processes, and
the wood being very strong and close
grained, admits of its general adaptation to
TO almost any purpose. For umbrellas,
pimenta sticks are very useful. for their
rigid nature prevents their breaking or be-
coming crooked. As imported in their
rough state, they are about two or three
inches in diameter and from two to four
feet long they are the produce of tree
known to botanists as Pimentd vuigaris,
which yields the allspice or pimenta of
commerce. 1t is n native Of the West In
dies, where it is also extensively cultivated
for the sake of the well-known berries.
Lately there has arisen great fancy
among connoiSSeurs for myrtle sticks these
are principally used for umbrellas, and
may be known by their rustic and knotty
appearance. Such specimens have a sin
gularly fantastic look, and would, we
should think, be well suited for umbrellas
intended for lending, as the owner could
not fail to recognize his property. Myrtle
sticks are imported from Algeria, whence
also are obtained various other kinds,
some of which cannot fail, by reason of
their naines, if not from their appearance,
to command some amount of interest.
Such for instance, would be the pOme-
grauate and the olive.
Perhaps the most priced of all sticks are
those Of the orange and lemon. These are
imported chiefly from the West Indies,
and although they can be procured without
difficulty in almost any retail shop in Lon
don, yet really perfect specimens are
scarce, aud fetch enormous prices. An or
angc stick is easily known by its beautiful
green bark, with fine white longitudinal
markings, and the lemon can be detected
by the symmetry of its proportions, and
the regularity and prominence of its knots.
These sticks are considered in the trade as
taking commonly the first place among
wall<ing-sticks.
a very favorite stick, both for the sake of
its appearance and its great rigidity, is the
rajah cane, and it is largely used for walk
| ing-sticks, umbrela-sticks, and handles
| for parasols. The celebrated Whangee
canes of China known and admired for the
regularity Of their joints, which are the
| points from whence the leaves are given
off, are the stems of species of PhyllOS-
tachyS, gigantic grass closely allied to the
| bamboo.
Not long since new kind of stick APP
pcared which was sold under the name of
| palm-canes. These, instead of being round,
are annular and more or less fiat. They
are of a brownish color, spotted, and quite
| straight, without either knob or curled
handle They are the potioles or leaf stalks
OF the date-palm. Another new kind of
stick lately introduced from Algeria, and
known in trade as Eucalyptus, is, in real
ity, the produce of a tree known to botan-
lists by the same name OF Eucalyptus The
true homo of these trees is Australia, where
numerous speci es exist, forming large for
est trees, some growing to between four
and five hundred feet high. Several species
have been introduced into the south of Eu-
rope, and found to thrive.
These are but few examples of the for
eign trade in this branch Of manufacture.
Large quantities of various kinds of sticks
are received from the East and West In
dies, China, Java, Singapore, &c. The we'll
| known Malacca canes, the stems of Cdld-
mus .Scipionum, a slender climbing palm,
are not found about Malacca, as the name
would seem to imply, but are imported
from Siak, on the opposite coast Of Suma-
ira.
Besides real sticks, or those of vegetable
growth, such substances as Thinoceros
horn, whalebono, tortoise shell, and others
of animal origin, are largely used, and
many of them fetch very high prices. The
trade in walking-stcks is in a very great
degree home industry. Though they are
made in large quantities on the Continent.
yet comparatively few finished sticks are
imported. Among those imported, per-
haps the largest quantity comes from Ham
burg; and consists OF lOw-priced painted
canes, such NJ soldiers usually carry. and
fancy toy canes for children German
manufacturers also supply our market To a
great extent with loaded life-preseryers
and corded canes, of which a great many
are sold in provincial towns. Paris also.
In more prosperous times, has contributed
very much 10 augment the variety OF taste
] fully-mOunted canes.