The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1904-09-01
tending to it. Wealthy people have
4 L. al1l, q.

for the whole company, however large
passed from mouth to mouth, like tn
glowing. cup in certain German circles
but resident foreigners have set VI
private bombillas, so to speak, which
they carry about in their pockets. Ou
party fell in with the latter conserva
tive custom before we had been a week
in Paraguay, and each of us goes armed
for every emergency with tube half {
yard long.
The Yerbales, or mate-felds of this
small republic alone are said to cover
an area of something over three millioI
acres, and in their present state to pro
duce an annual crop of not less thar
100000 cwts. Although it grows wilG
in great thickets, like hazel or cranber
ries, it is greatly improved by cultiva
ton, in quality as we'll as in quantity
of leaves. The early Jesuits, those
shrewd fellows who pried as deeply in
to the secrets of nature as into the Sc
were we'll acquainted with methods
dong since lost or forgotten) for secur-
ing its constant reproduction. AL
around their mission settlements were
vast plantations of lick pareguariensis,
which supplied their own requirements
and those of their converts. The secret
OF the propagation of mate disappear,
ed with the expulsion of the Jesuit
fathers; and though rewards have been
offered from time to time to any who
shall re-discover it, it remains ''lost
art" During the reign of the tyrants,
Francia and Lopez, father and son, the
expectation of the herb was monopo-
liked by the government and every citi
zen was compelled to pay tribute each
year by handing over specified
amount of it for the benefit of the
despots After the wars and the tragic
death of the last Dictator, when the
impoverished government was abso-
lutely penniless, it was induced in its
hour of need to lease the tea forests to
an Argentine firm, which paid to the
treasury a royalty of one dollar per ton,
a considerable revenue, yet an enor-
nous sacrifice for little cash in hand
of what might be made a much more
productive source of income. In the
markets of Buenos Ayres mate brings
from $3.50 to $500 the arroba, or twenty
five-pound package. This is the ex-
port price with the additional cost of
of carriage. 1t retails, like other
staples, according to the conscience of
the seller and the credulity of the pur-
chaser. At Asuncion, for local use
the average price is $3.50 the arroba.
Nothing in Paraguay is more interest
ing than the preparation of this herb
for market and the Yerbales where it
is prepared. The working of the indus
try consists of four distinct operations
gathering the shrub drying the young
leaves. packing and conveying them to
the head depot, and transporting to the
various markets. The gathering III the
woods is done by men called mineros,
the pay for each being Is centayos
about seven cents the arroba, for
leaves that have had the first smuggling.
Next the leaves must be dried over a
slow fire, in which process they lose
half their weight. The workmen who
superintend the drying are paid if
teen centavoS for each TWENTY-FIVE
pounds Of dried leaves. 1t costs five
centavoS more to reduce the herb to
powder by beating and perhaps forty
five centavos for transportation in bul-
lock carts, including the necessary
sacks, Making liberal allowance for
the expense of conveyance from depot
to market and margin for accident and
damage, the net cost of the leaves from
their picking in the forest to place of
sale in the form of tea is less than
sl.25 per twenty-five-pound package.
These figures, compared with the SELL
ing price, demonstrate the commercial
value of Yerba Mate and shows how
the company Industrial Paraguaya'
were able to pay its shareholders div
idend of over sixty per cent. during the
very first year of its existence. Hun
dreds of mineros are employed in the
gathering, and even at the small wages
above named, an industrious laborer
can earn from two to three dollars a
day.
as to the details of the business, the
Yerbatero, having selected his location
and marshaled his men, proceeds first
to erect the necessary buildings, viz, a
long shed for storing goods, provisions
and the yerba to be gathered; mum.
Der of huts for the workmen, and bar
bracuas, or frames upon which to dry
the leaves. Sheds and huts are con-
structed in the rudest manner, floor
less and matched with dry grass; but
the frames, perhaps twenty feet square
must be more substantially built OF
poles and withes firmly dashed together
with arched roof and floor of clay, the
latter hard and level and extending
several feet beyond the roof on al