The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1914-03-03

how many could tell, II asked,
where the buttons that so artistic
ally embellish the fancy grays,
browns or blues of their fashion
able attire have their originf Ten,
perhaps. And yet each of them is
an unconscious walking advertise
ment Of one of the unique products
of several Latin American countries
writes Edward Albes in the month
ly bulletin of the PAN American
Union, and proceeds to give an ac-
count of the vegetable ivory button
from it's birth on the tree until it
is placed as a finished product Oh
the card and offered for sale.
1t appears that it has been come
thing like fifty years since some
rubber gatherers in the forests Of,
northern Ecuador first told OF al
peculiar species of pam which they
found in great numbers, whose iruit
was a nut resembling in form 2nd
color the miniature he'd of negro.
These nuts were called 'negritos
and upon further investigation it
was found that the kernels, wneh
thoroughly dried, had the appear
ance and texture of dentine it"ry.
Sample lots of these nuts were
shipped to Europe, and, although at
first they were thought to be use
less, it was soon found that they
furnished an ideal material from
which to manufacture buttons and
other small, ornamental ObjsCts for
which the more expensive ivory had
hitherto been used. TIE dried her-
mel could be sawed, cared, a!d
turned on lathes into III sizes and
shapes of buttons, while the tex
ure of the material is such that II
readily absorbs dyes and Will take
on high and permanent polish.
Henceforth the ivory nut became
an important product and now adds
considerably to Ecuador's export
trade. Something like 10000 tons
are shipped from that country each
year, worth about $l,70O,OOO, while
Colombia and Panama are both in
creasing their output.
The tagua, TO use its common
name grows near the west coast
cf South America from southern
Panama through Colombia, Ecuador,
and the northern part OF Peru. IL
is most plentiful along the eastern
slopes of the Andes and grows IN
groves along the river valleys at
varying elevations ard as high as
1900 feet above sea level. The
tree is a stunted palm fern with 4
short. thick Trunk which grows
slowly to a height Of 10 to 70 feet,
marked by spiral lines of scars left
bv falling leaves and fruit stems
The leaves resemble large gorgeous
green feathers and are like those
of the cocoanIu ,alu. while the
blossoms are ii pure white and very
fragrant. The seeds or ae 'pels re-
sulting from these are first in the
forms of sacks of sweet, refresh
ing liquid that changes into a soft
delicious edible pulp and finally
becomes the hard nut of commerce
A group of 60 to 80 nuts are en-
cased in huge, Enoboy rough
brown husk which looks somethln!
like a huge chestnut bur, and whici
: opens at the bottom when the nut
4 are ripe and lets them fall to th'
| ground. The nuts mature very
slowly, requiring from blossom Il
ripeness fully a year. The gather
ing Of green or unripe tagua nut
| is prohibited by law in Ecuador
| When fully ripe they are about tn
size of small potatoes, OF very har'
| white composition, very finely grain
ed. and closely resemble dentin
| ivory in all its characteristics. TIL
trees are said TO begin bearing II
their sixth year and last from so 4