Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1888-05-26

most forest trees, they are always found standing
alone separated by distances OF from 20 TO so feet
fores perSass 81 ha, 9.ner iaes In Ine neI
one acre OF ground IL Is called the caobas here
and with It's massive trunk, dark, regular but
shaggy Dark, and its noble spreading top, much
like Indian laurel it Is one OF the Crandest occu
pants OF the Cuban forest
THE MAsrEoUERos
Is precisely like our American poplar In appear.
anee bark. fiber, branch, and leaf; but its March
load OF blossoms, similar TO the beautiful cameIia
ms tne land with odor and Il also bears small
succulent nut, upon which wild and domesticated
swine quickly fatten. The gueso is a tree very
similar 10 our hickory, with a tight shining bark
anu round, wax-hke leaf. IL Is the "bone-woodr
OF Cuba, and Is much used for yokes ana cart tim
Der The almiqui Is a splendid tree reminding one
ssrkingIy OF the California redwood. which has
VI late come into such general use In the states
IOr car timDers and interior house fnfshfngs.
while us trunk has not so great a diameter, the
texture Is liner, the color deeper, and the wood
susceptible or higher polish. The guayco Is the
ngnum vltse. It's character aud value require no
description. IL grows In prorusion in the denser
49, 800, vi she ISLAND attaining diameter Oh ana
neight or 70 feet Then there are the JequieS, OF
the same family and density or ber as the guabra-
haca; the rosewood, with whose beauty we are
all familiar; the carne de doncella, even superior
10 rosewood In depth OF color and uster OF finish;
the saoina, or sandal-wooi, whose fragrance nils
thousands OF our grandmOthers' clothes-closetS In
New England, slow OF growth, delicate In bark,
like our pine In leaves, the twgs and branches OF
which are priced In Cuban homes for driving away
lnOenS, the ma)agua giving WOOD OF green coiOf,
marVelously beautiful In grain and which polishes
even inner than mahogany; the laurel, uneQualed
save In India for luxuriance and symmetry; the
royal palms hardly forest-trees but standing here
anu there In majestic groups at the edges OF dark
forests Ike stately SentineS; and the coco, quite
as oriental and mystic, In strange, weird loneli-
ness, or In great groves OF thousands, the troplc
DreezeS ever chanting and soughing among the
sky-piercing pinnate leaves.
THE INTERESTING COCO
From many standpoints the latter is the most
Interesting. Its uees are extraordinarily varied.
The guaros cook and eat its leaves and roots, and
Toned from tree trunks. The ribs OF the larger
leaves furnish excellent paddles. Torches and ar
rows are also made from them. sugar, vinegar
and potash are secured from the wood. The
r1pened nuts, OF which a mature tree VIII furnish
about 100 annually, are an important article OF
the green nut Is the most potential diuretc known,
and forms a universal Cuban drink, in the aqua de
COCO. The ripened nuts strange, half-human eyes
are the outlook OF the cOcO'5 perpetual nfe
Through these the new tree breaks to the SUM-
The ovule is a slender, cone-shaped mass cased
In the largest end OF the nut. Its sustentatiOn in
propagation Is drawn from the rich, milky meat
in whatever direction the shoot may be pointed, It
steers straight for the zenith. InnumeraDle DELI
cate, threau-llke roots I'LL the nut and feed upon
the mother-heart there until nutrition is ex-
hauSted, when the powerful shell parts like an
egg-Sheii, and the quick soil receives the out
reaching roots lovingly. Within four or five years
fruit Is borne, and for half century continues In
ever-increaSing supply, clustered up there In the
very top OF the trees, as though hiding beneath
you would know Cuba, leave her weird old cities
and get close to the glowing, exultant heart OF
nature In her nora, birds, and tremendous forests
EDGAR L. WAkEAAN.