The Penn's Grove record., 1894-02-09
IVORY NUTS.
A AxATRRIAL FROM wlnCE
\. MANY BUTTONS ARE MADE.
How the Nuts Are Grown In South
Americas Equatorial Region6-
Principal Uses of Vege-
table Ivory.

Do you know Of what material Cd,
buttons on your coat are madef
Well, perhaps, II you did you would
never recognize Il in the raw, for In foul
cases out Of five il ia a material vulgar
lily known as vegetable ivory. To tht
trade it Is the ivory nut. Down on Chi
pier Of the Pacific Mail Steamship Com
pany will be seen long rows Of sacki
made Of jute, which bear tho appearances
externally OF being filed with potatoes.
These are stacked at the head of the pier
in the open air. There is no danger oil
them being carried away, for they are Al
heavy as lead and not extremely valu.
tble, as they are. Potatoes would not
| remain in that exposed position untouched
. single night. The ivory nut, however,
Is valuable only when ii comes from the
hands of the manufacturer in the button
or the ornamental state.
The ivory nut is grown in the equa.
torial regions of South America. The
principal point of shipment is Colon, Gu
the Isthmus of Panama. Like this
banana, the ivory nut is perennial in it,
native cline, and may be found in all
stages from the bud to the ripened nut
ut all seasons of the year. The NUT
grow in great punches of about fifty,
fncased in a shell, as are chestuuts in the
burr, though the shell outwsrdly re.
sembles in roughness the surface of a
pineapple. The entire cluster Of nuts In
this shell is as big as a mans head. This
she'll comes of easily after the nuts are
ripe. At this stage they fall from the
!ree-which' are fourteen or fifteen feet
In height-and are packed on the backs
Of natives to the points Of shipment.
The nuts are grouped together within
tue covering somewhat like chestnuts in
The burr, which nuts they resemble in
shape. They are about the color Of ar
rnwashed last years potato, and as hard
V an elephants lusk.
The grain of the ivory nut is white
aud aver of texture, so that it is easily
carved, sawed and worked into any de.
sirable shape. The ivory nut tree is not
farmed or raised a%rtiically, as is the
banana tree, but grows in its natural
state and after its own manner in the
forests, the same as the hickory or the
;hestnut or walnut.
About 1000 tons of the ivory nut art
brought TO this country annually. Ow.
ing to the ~choapness of the raw material
there is not more than $50, 600 pei
annuuI involved in the traffic. Perhaps
1900 persons in New York are employed
in the handling and manufacturing Of
he nut and its products.
"The principal use of vegetable ivory
aow," said a broker who deals in the
article i%ncideutly, sis the manufacture
Of buttons. A good many people
probably think the buttons on their
spring clothes are made of rubber or
bone-and so they used to be. Now,
however, vegetable ivory is the principal
thing used. The nut in its green stat:
is filed with q milky substance, which
hardens upon ripening into a fine, even
grained and a tough substance. In
this state it is sawed into slabs of the
necessary thickness and turned into but.
tons by machinery.
"Unlike rubber and bone, ivory is nt,
Affected by heat or cold, and is not
liable to break in the eye. The manu-.
facturers are located in a number Of
Eastern cities, though the raw material
that comes to this country is usually
anded at this port. The cost of manu-
featuring is the principal item of expense,
About eighty per cent. of the cost of th'
manufactured article is in the labor.
sin the earlier stages of Its use vege
table ivory was principally known in the
ihape of ornaments of various kinds. Z
you rememner, some years ago it wa
extensively handled by train men ant
street fakirs, who peddled basketsful o.
little t~rinliets made from the ivory nut.
At present, practically the whole product
II the ivory nut goes into buttons.
some Of the peculiar features Of tn
material in relation to buttons is its sus.
ceptibility to coloring matter. 1t can
be colored anything that is desired by
the manufacturers. You will notice thai
the artistic tailor makes use Of this ia
great advantage in his adaptation of but.
tons to garments. In the Scotch tweed
suits of light and notified textures, OIL
garments of any color whatever where Q
solid button is used, one in perfect har'
mony with the material may be selected.
The varieties in shape aud color are al
most countless"
The nuts, when scraped with n knife
emit a r.ca odor, similar to what il
known as the Brazil or cream nut. Ly-
ing there, stacked up on the pier, they
ire interesting if only as illustrative Of
the great variety of extraordinary thing
brought to New York from various parti
Of tho world and the ingenuity Of those
who have cleverly adapted them to the
ves OF mankind .-Neu York Telegram.