Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1894-02-14
IVORY NUTS.
a MATERIAL FROM WI.ICS
MANY BUTTONS ARE MADE.
How the Nuts Are Grown I'm South
Americas Equatorial Regions
Principal Uses of Vege-
table Ivory.

Dc you know OF what material III,
buttons on your coat are mGiel
Well, perhaps. If you did you would
Gever recognize it in the raw, for in foul
cases out of five it is material vulgar.
lily known as vegetable ivory. To the
trade it is the ivory nut. Down on the
pier of the Pacific Nail Steamship Com.
pany will be seen long rows of sack:
made of jute, which bear the appearance
externally of being filed with potatoes.
These are stacked at the head of the pier
in the open air. There is no danger OF
them being carried away, for they are a,
heavy as lead and not extremely valu,
able, az they are. Potatoes would not
remain il that exposed position untouched
a single night. The ivory nut, however,
is valuable only when it 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, of
the IsJhmus of Panama. Like the
banana, the ivory nut IS perennial in is
native cline, and may be found in all
stages from the bId to the ripenel nut
at all seasons of the year. The nua
grow in great punches of about fifty,
incased in shell, as are chestuuts in the
burr, though the shell outwardly re.
sembies in r0Ughness the surface of
pineapple. The entire cluster of nuts in
this shell is as big as a mans head. This
shell 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.
IDe nuts are grouped together within
The covering somewhat like chestnuts in
The burr, which nuts they resemble in
shape They are about the color Of an
Enwashed last years potato, and as hard
5 an elephants Iusk.
The grain of the ivory nut is white
and even of texture, so that it is easily
carved, sawed aud worked into any de.
sirable shape. The ivory nut tree is not
larmed or raised artifcally, as is the
banana tree, but grows in its natural
state and after its own manner in the
forests, the same as tuc hickory or the
hestnut or walnut.
About 1000 tons OF the ivory nut arc
brought to this country annually. Ow.
ing 10 the choapness OF the raw material
there IS not more than $50, UJ0 pei
Gnnuu, involved in the trdtiic. Perhaps
1890 persons IN New York are employed
in the handling and manufacturing ol
:he nut and its products.
The principal use OF vegetable ivory
low," said broker who GealI in the
article incidently, ''is the manufacture
of buttons. \ 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 principa'
thing used. The nut in its green stats
is filed with. a milky substance, which
hardens upon ripeniug into a fine, en-
grained and a tough substance. IL
this state it is sawed into slabs of the
necessary thickness and turned into but.
tons by machinery.
Unlike rubber and bone, ivory is no.
affected by heat or cold, and is not
liable to break in the eye. The manu-.
facturers are located in number OF
Eastern cities, though the raw materia,
that comes to this country is usual,
anded at this port. The cost of manu-
featuring is the principal item of expense.
About eighty per cent. of tie cost of thr
manufactured article is in the labor.
''In the earlier stages of its use vege
liable ivory was principally known in this
no of nru ant of r-1r;prru l-1nl, L
gou rememner, some years ago it wa
extensively handled by train men ant
street fakirs, who peddled basketsful o,
litele trinke,s made from the ivory nut
At present, practically the whole product
If the ivory nut goes into buttons.
''0ne Of the peculiar features of tn
material in relation to buttons IS its sus-
ceptibility to coloring matter. It can
be colored anything that is desired by
The manufacturers. You will notice that
the artistic tailor makes use of this to
great advantage in his adaptation of but.
tons to garments. In the Scotch tweed
suits of light and mottled textures, oI
garments of any color whatever where a
solid button is used, one in perfect har.
mony with the material may be selected.
The varieties in shape and color are al.
most countless"
The nuts, when scraped with knife
emit rich odOr, similar to what il
known as the Brazil or cream nut. Ly-
ing there, stacked up on the pier, they
are interesting if only as illustrative of
the great variety of extraordinary thingt
brought to New York from various parts
of the world and the ingenuity of those
who have cieyerly adapted them to the
lses OF mankind. .-Nes0 York Te'eyrGm.