The weekly herald. [volume] (Cleveland, Tenn.) 1876-1888, 1878-05-09

The TallOw tree of China is value
not only for the fatty matter it contains
and from which it derives its name, bu
for other products which are available
Its leaves are employed as a black dye
the wood, hard and duri bic, may b
used for printing blocks and other use
full articles; while the refuse of the nut
as oil cake, makes good fuel and an eX
cellent manure. The nuts ripen il
mid-wlnter; they are then pounded an,
steamed, when the tallow will ooze ou
into receptacle prepared. After on
or more MEETINGS it is ready for market
hard, white, and inodOrOus. The ker
nels yield about 80 per cent. of oil
which answers well for lamps. DR.
MCGOWAN also states that "artificial i'll
Elimination in China is generally pro
cured by vegetable oils, but candles are
also employed. In religious ceremonies
no other material is used. As no one
ventures out after dark without Ian.
tern, and as the gods cannot be accepta.
bly, worshipped without candles, the
quantity consumed is very great
The tallow tree is grown to some extent
in India and in some parts of South
Carolina, but we think only as an orna-
mental tree. AS the oil cake is said to
be particularly valuable for enrlching
tobacco fields, one would imagine that
more prominence would be given to
Its cultivation. In China it will grow
anywhere, on the hills, in the plains, at
the margins of canals, or on the sandy
beach. In fact it is seldom planted
where anything else will grow.
The Candle-nut tree Of the South Sea
Islands is to the natives what the tallow
tree is to the Chinese. 1t bears a nut
about the size of a walnut, which is used
as a substitute for candle. By burn
ing large quantities of the nut in Curl
ously constructed furnace or oven the
natives obtain a very fine lamp black
with which they paint their canoes,
idols, and print various devices upon
their garments. A gum is also obtained
from it, which is used to varnish the
cloth made from the bread-fruit tree,
rendering it impervious to water, while
from its inner bark juice is extracted,
serving as paint oil, and, when mixed
with dyes obtained from other trees,
becomes so permanent that it never
washes off. The tree grows in the
mountains, and its leaves, nearly white
contrast well with the darker foliage of
other trees.
The Bread Fruit Tree is thought by
the natives of some islands to be worth
more than all the trees, for it is to them
literally the "Staf of Life" Rev. j.
Williams writes of the Bread Fruit Tree:
"It frequently grows fifty or sixty feet
high, and has trunk between two and
three feet diameter. The leaves are in
form something like the fig tree often
eighteen inches in length, and of dark
green color, with glossy surface, re-
sembling the richest evergreens. The
fruit is oval about six inches in diam
eter, and of light pea green. 1t al
ways grows at the extremity of the
branches, and hangs either alone or In
clusters of two or three. Sometimes
there are several hundreds Of these up
on one tree, and their light color, con-
trasted with the dark glossy leaves,
together with the stately outline and
shape of the tree, renders it an object
which, for in beauty, is not surpassed
in the vegetable world. The value of
this wonderful tree exceeds its beauty.
1t is everything to the natives-their
house, their food and their clothing.
1t bears two crops every season, and as
there are several varieties which ripen
at different periods, a supply is always
obtained.
The bread fruit tree requires depth of
soil, and cannot grow upon low, coral
islands. provision is made for
those who dwell on these exposed places
by the kind Father of the human family,
and where the bread fruit tree will not
grow, the palm cocoanut hourishes
abundantly.
The Laurel-Camphor Tree is a tree of
considerable height and a native of
China, Formosa and Japan. The leaves
are evergreen, its flowers are a yellow
white, and fruit not much unlike half
ripe black currant.-EYery part of the
tree, but, especially the flower, smells
strongly of camphor. Carpenters value
the wood for its durability.-The cam
phor is extracted from the stem and
branches by distillation, but in Borneo
there is camphor tree which, on being
cut down and split, is found to contain
small quantities of camphor in natural
cavities of the wood. This is highly
priced by the Chinese, who are willing
to pay fifty times as much as they pay
for the ordinary kind. This expensive
camphor they principally use for en-
balming the dead.
---A04-
Winding Up watches.
More watches are spoiled by irregular
L., ~ Iap