Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1890-08-26
WONDERFUL PALMS.
Two Remarkable Trees Indigenous to

Two Remarkable Trees indigenous TO
Brazil.
United States Consul Burke of Bahia,
Brazil, tells of two remarkable trees in his
last report to the United States Govern
ment. They are palms, indigenous to
Brazil, and are thus described by him:
The camanba is certainly a wonderful
tree. Every part of it-root, rootlet,
branch and trunks available; in fact, it
is indispensable for the natives in building
and roofing their huts, making fences, etc,
while the articles made from it supply
them with food, light and medicine. 1t is
species of ralm tree and grows in dry,
sandy soil. The bulb (the size depending
upon the size of the tree) is strongly fari
naceous, and when dried and ground pro-
duces kind of farischa used for food by
the natives, while the rootlets of the bulb
are used for medicine, possessing strong
cathartic property. The trunk while the
tree is young contains soft, oleaginous
substance, something like marrow This
is good food for cattle, sheep, goats and
hogs. After the tree attains growth of
a few years the trunk becomes very hard,
and can then be used for building purposes.
The lower part of the branches, which
grow to length of eight to ten or twelve
feet are chiefly used for fences. They are
wide and fiat at the bottom and tapering
toward the top, with short, hard and very
sharp thorns at the edges, in appearance
not unlike the mouth of saw-fish. The
fence made from this material is very
strong. The least part of the branch,
when cut and sun dried gives an exuda-
ton, which appears on the fan-like leaf
| or blade. 1t is tenacious substance,
possessing properties very similar to bees
wax. This wax is extensively used for
making candles The leaf or blade has a
fiber from which hats, mats, baskets, rope,
brooms, busters, ETC., are made. When the
emulation is scraped from the blades of
palm the branches are used for roofing
huts and small houses and for protecting
brick walls from the fierce rays of the
sun, as well as from the rain. The fruit
of the tree is sweet and palatable. The
kernel or seed is pounded to powder
and is used in infusion in place of coffee.
Another valuable tree, found almost ex-
clusively in this State of Bahia and in the
| northern part of the State of Minas-Ge-
| raes, which joins this State on the south,
is the piassava tree. Like camanba, the
piassava is also species of palm tree
From it is obtained a fiber and nuts called
eoquilhos. Ropes, brooms, brushes of
nearly every kind and for every purpose
are manufactured from the fiber of this
tree. 1t is, however, nearly all shipped to
England and there manufactured. Very
little goes to the United States. The ma
tives simply twist the fiber and use it for
rope. Germany takes some of the fiber
also, and some of the other European coun-
tries, but England takes more than half of
all exported. For the year 1888 over
| $4,000 tons were exported, England taking
about three-fourths thereof The coquilhos,
or nuts, are also exported or manufac-
| tured into buttons, knife-blades and trink-
cts of various kinds. The coquilho is
susceptible of high polish, and in this
| condition has a very close resemblance to
ivory. Piassava patches, called campos,
are found in the very heart of the virgin
| forests. and are also scattered through the
more open woodland, and are called
piassava do matte and piassava do campo.
[ The most of these trees along the coast
here have been cut; therefore, in order to
| obtain the piassava now it is necessary to
go some distance to the interior The
| Government owns nearly all of the
piassava lands, renting or giving license
to parties wishing to obtain the fiber, the
license extending from a year to year
and half. Instead of stripping the fiber
from the tree while standing, the tree is
cut down. In this way the land is cleared,
and. if along river, jazenda of cocoa or
coffee or sugar could be made very profit
able, the parties, after the clearing, buying
the land from the Government. The
district between the rivers Je1uitinhonha
and Da Selsa is very rich in fine piassava,
and the land, when cleared, would be most
excellent for jazendas.