The Oskaloosa herald., 1914-06-11

or trousers invariably at the most
inopportune time and then IL be
comes an object of much importance
and considerable solicitude. He wants
IL replaced forthwith and HES him to
his tailor. There he finds that this
individual has carefully selected the
exact shade of button that matches
the delicately mingled colors of his
suit, fact which he had probably not
| thought of before, and that the stock
of this particular kind of button has
been eXhauted. At once the button
takes on a new Importance, and per
! haps the query presents ltSelf-of
what is ii and whence does it come
Out of 1000 well dressed men
taken from an average city crowd,
how many could tell, if asked, where
the buttons that so artistiCally EN-
bellish the fancy greys, browns or
blues of their fashionable attire have
their origin? Ten-perhaps And
yet each of them is an unconscious
walking advertisement of one of the
unique products of several Latin
American countries" writes Edward
Albes in the Monthly Bulletin of the
Pan American Union, and proceeds
to give an account of the vegetable
ivory button from its birth on the tree
until it is placed as a finished product
on the card and offered for sale.
1t appears that il has been some
thing like fifty years since some rub
Der gatherers in the forests of north
ern Ecuador first told of a peculiar
species of palm which they found in
great numbers, whose fruit was nut
resembling in form and color the
miniature head OF a negro. These
nuts were called "negritos," and upon
further investigation it was found
that the kernels, when thoroughly
dried had the appearance and texture
of dentine ivory. Sample lots of
these nuts were shipped to Europe
and although at first they were
thought to be useless, it was soon
found that they furnished an ideal
material from which TO manufacture
buttons and other small ornamental
objects for which the more expensive
ivory had hitherto been used. The
dried kernel could be sawed, carved,
and turned ON lathes into all sizes
and shapes of buttons, while the tex
ture of the material is such that it
readily absorbs dyes and will take on |
forth the ivory nut became an inn
portant product and now adds con
to Ecaudor's export trade.
like 10000 tons are ship
ped from that country each year,
worth about $1,700,00O, while Colon
bia and Panama are both increasing
their output.
The tagua, to use its common name,
grows near the west coast OF South
Africa from southern Panama through
Ecuador and the northern
part OF Peru. 1t is most plentiful
along the eastern slopes of the Andes
and grows in groves along the river
valleys at varying elevations and as
high as $500 feet above sea level.
The tree is stunted palm fern with
/ short thick trunk which grows slow
y to a height of 10 to 20 feet, mark
ID by spiral lines of scars left by
.allen leaves and fruit stems. The
caves resemble large gorgeous green
feathers and are like those of the co,
coanut palm, while the blossoms are I
Of pure white and very fragrant. The
seeds or kernels resulting from these
are first in the forms of sacks of
sweet, refreshing liquid that changes
INTO soft, delicious, edible pulp and
inally becomes the hard nut OF com
nerce A group OF 60 to 80 nuts are
.ncased in a huge, knobby, rough
)rOwn husk which looks something
ike huge chestnut bur, and Which
pens at the bottom when the nuts
re ripe and let's them fall to the
round. The nuts mature very slowly, /
equiring from blossom TO ripeness
lilly a year