The Washington weekly post., 1900-09-25
BRlAR ROOT fOR SMOKERS.
Where the Wood Pipes Are Made from Is
Obtained.
From the London Tlmes.

From the London Times
Mr. Carmichael, British vice consul at
Leghorn devotes an interesting section of
the report on his district for the past year
20 an account of the briar root industry.
The wood. he says, from which briar
pipes are made is not the root of the briar
rose. but the root of the large heath
known In botany as Erica arborea. Our
"briaF" is but a corruption of the French
bruyere-broom or heath. The briar-roOt
industry has had a somewhat curious
history. First begun in the Pyrenees some
fifty years ago. il Travelled along the
French Riviera and the Ligurian coast,
taking Corsica by the way, 10 the Tuscan
Maremma. and IL has now reached Gala
bria on the south. which is at present its
most fiourishing center. Naturally, when
district has been exhausted OF ali its
roots the industry must come to an end
there and the opinion has been expressed
that the Italian branch of il cannot last
much more than another ten years. Leg
norm mas always been a center OF the eX-
port or Tuscan briar root since the Ma
remma Industry came into existence but,
as the south Italian briar Is of superior
quality. large quantity of the Calabrian
root is also imported into Leghorn for Sc
lection and subsequent export. The total
export from JeghOrn is estimated at 3d.
a
about f2S.O00. Fully half the export is Ca
labrlan root. All the root that arrives in
Leghorn has already been cut on the spot
into the shape in which IL is exported TO
the pipe manufacturing concerns, which
are principally, as regards Italian briar
81. Cloud in France, Nuremberg in Ba-
Naria, and various towns in Rhenish
Prussia and Thuringia
The roots, which are sometimes of a cir
cumIerence OF two feet or more. are cut
into blocks and then boiled. If there
Is any defect in the root which has not
been discovered before the boiling pro-
cess the blocks viii split sooner or later
Brlar-rOoJ blocks are cut into about
twenty-five different sizes and three prin-
Cipal shapes. The shapes are Mar
seillaise" relieve" and Belgian" The
first two are the more usual shapes; from
the first are cut the ordinary briar pines
which have bowl and stem at ri0ht an
giles; relieve" blocks are cut into a shape
for hanging pipes, and belgian" blocks.
Tor which there is but small demand ara
shaped 10 fashion into pipes which have
bowl and stem at an obtuse angle The
niLimum size Of the 'Marseillaise" blocks
Is about three inches long. two inches
thick and one and a half inches broad
The Calabrlan blocks, selected at LeghOrn
and exported thence. seem 10 be I'm favor
with the trade. as they remain so long
On the dealers hands that thee would b.
almost certain 10 split before export if
'I,cH ,Neit ueierilNe- y ltShOin dealer
who does his Cwn cuttin~ in Calabria has
first TO send the roots by wagon 10 his
workshops, where they are boiled and
cut. thence again by wagon to the sea-
&C ast, where they are placed in lighters
FOR shipment 10 Leehorn. AT Leghorn
they are once more transferred 10 light
crs and placed in cars for transport 10
the warehouses, where they are unpack-
ed for selection. They are then repacked
in bales and Carted 10 the goods station
for conveyance abroad. Hence, a con-
siderable time must elapse before thew
leave the hands of a merchant who does
his own cutting in Calabria. 4 consid-
cradle number Of blocks are sent TO the
United States, but. annarently, none
whatever 10 TIE United Kingdom