The morning news., 1894-11-02


I form of whose productions are known
/ throughout the length and breadth Of
/ the globe, and are deserving of far more
attention than I can possibly bestow upon
! them in my yarn.
/ Tho handsome camphor-Wood chests
I brought from Japan were made from
| a tree that once fiOurished in the cele-
| brated grove surrounding the ancient tenn
pie of Osuwa, at Nagasakl There are
hunreds Of them there averaging y feet
/ in diameter, while in the Kin Shin dis
/ trict l have measured grand old vet
/ Grams 20 feet and over in diameter. Large
! groves are owned by the government. the
[ wood being highly priced fer ship build
4 ing, the tough root making excellent knees
/ for vessels. The trunk usually runs up 20
or 80 feet without limbs, then branching
/ out in all directions, forming a beautiful
1 tree, ever green and ornamental. The
! leaves are oval inelining to the lancehead
shape, as thSy are pointed al each end.
/ They are of a vivid dark green color ali
the year round, except for a week or two
/ in the early spring, when the young
/ leaves are of a delicate pale green The
/ blossoms are small, while the seeds or
/ berries in clusters resemble black cur
rents.
/ The camphor does not exude from the
I tree even when the bark is cut, but is
/ found in little punches in the pores of the
l wood The method of manufacturing
Z
/ very simple. The preparation of camphor
/ is said to have originated with the Nene-
/ tians and was jealously guarded but the
/ Dutch in time obtained the secret, secur-
| ing almost complete monopoly of the
/ trade
! Il have often watched the Japs at work
/ in their groves cutting the tree into chips.
/ A large metal pot is partially filled with
| water and placed over a slow fire. This
! is the steam generator. \ wooden tub,
/ with it's bottom perforated, is fitted to
| the top of the pot, and the chips are
/ placed in this. A steam tight cover Is
/ fitted on the tube. From this tub bam-
/ boo pipe leads TO another tub, through
which the enclosed steam, the generated
| camphor and oil flow. This second tub
/ is connected in a like manner with
( third, which ia divided into two compart-
ments, one above the other, the dividing
/ floor being full of holes to allow the water
and oil to pass to the lower compartment.
The upper compartment has layer of
/ straw which catches and holds the cam
| phor as it passes to the cooling process.
| The camphor is then separated from the
straw, packed in wooden tubs of 13S l-3
/ pounds each, and is ready for market The
/ oil is used by the natives for Illuminating
/ and various purposes.
The constant cutting down of the cam
! phor trees would soon extermnate the
/ groves but for a stringent law which COM
/ mands that when one tree is cut down
/ another must be planted The law is
/ rigidly carried out, and the stock of
| camphor, through the prudence and fore
/ sight of the Japs, is not likely to run
/ short
The India rubber tree, Tom is one of
| the nOblest and most picturesque of all the
! trees of the forest II is either solitary or
in two or three fold groups, and may be
/ distinguished from other trees at dis
tance of several miles by the striking
/ beauty Of its dense and lofty crown In
/ Assam, beyond the Ganges, where the tree
! abOunds, the main trunk of one measures
] "a feet in circumference, and the branches
! covered an area of $40 feet. The height
| of the central trees was 100 feet, and 1t
has been estimated that there are over
| 4,3O0 such trees in our district within an
area Of thirty miles by eight. The tree
! is tapped in the morning and during the
/ day a gill of fluid is received in clay cup
| placed in each incision in the trunk. This,
| when full, is turned into jar and is ready
/ to be poured over any pattern of clay,
| the form of which it takes as successive
/ layers are thus applied. 1t comes from
the tree purely coIorless, like milk. but
| when dried by the sun II Is white within
and yellowish brown without
Il once passed a couple of weeks in
/ rubber hunters camp on the banks of the
Amazon, and it was there, my lad, that
witnessed one of the most singular sights
that seldom falls to the lot of man to be-
! hold. 1t was a combat to the death be-
| tween an anaconda and a crocodile Tell
you about it? That must form yarn by
itself, and no doubt would prove more
acceptable than the story about trees
'On the Canary Island grows a fountain
| tree that distlls water, nature having pro-
! vided this remedy for the drought of the
| island. Every morning a cloud of mist
arises from the sea, which the wind forces
against the steep cliff on which the tree
! grows, and it is from the mist that the
tree dstills water. This must be similar
/ to the famous rain tree of Padradoca
Isle Of Ferro, from which pure water con-
tinually drips.
"China has a tallow tree, which produces
a substance like tallow, and which serves
the same purpose. In Nevada there is
said to be a luminous tree of large pro-
portions. The Indians entertain a whole
some dread of 1t. 1t is remarkable land
mark at night, as it can be seen half a mile
away.
lone of the curiosities of Brazil is a tree
whose wood and bark contain 50 much
SILICA that they are used by potters Both
wood and bark are burned the ashes
pulverized and mixed in equal proportions
with clay, producing a very superior
| ware. The tree grows to a hight Of 100
| feet, the bark cuts like sandstone, and
when dried is brittle and hard.
IF Ihad time, Tom, / would tell YOU
about the wonderful tree of Thibet, known
as the tree Of the thousand images; its
/ leaves are covered with we'll defined char
acters OF the Thibetan alphabet 1t is Of
! great age and the only one of its kind
! known.
I'm all the valleys of the Hawaiian
/ Islands there is a tree with a quivering
/ leaf, which is known as the kukui or
/ candle-nut tree. In ancient times the
/ kernel of the nuts were strung on the
midriff of the cocoa leaf and used as
/ torches. The natives roast the nuts. and
/ from the bark of the tree there exudes a
| gum arabic extensively used as a med
! icine The nut is now used in the man
ufacture of jewelry and purchased by
/ tourists as mementos.
/ Il might tell you about the cork tree,
which would form chapter in itself,
/ and the singular uses TO which it is put,
| from a coffin In Turkey to wearing ap-
| parel and shoes in Algiers. The age of the
| tree is marked by a ring denoting a sea-
/ sons growth, and in Sweden the pine ana
| hr have been found to exceed 100 years"
RAG FAIR IN LONDON