The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1915-07-16

->&fsw= of the fields gratfes the olfac
tory nerves of prince and pauper
of the scullery maid and the pam
pered social butterfly, whose more or less remote
ancestors doubtless breathed In the perfume as
It rose from the dew-covered tender grass they
moved with shining blade and gathered with
their own strong arms. The attraction of the
perfume seems to have fingered through
many generations.
New-mown hay not being always available, and
somewhat too bulky for aesthetic use even when
it is, the art of the perfumer has been called
upon TO crafty the sense OF smell which longed
for this particular aroma; so "new-mown hay
was added to the varied perfumes of Araby'
used as toilet accessories In liquid form, and now
"milady" may inhae the delicious odor from her
cut glass scent bottle Mayhap she pictures to
herself the sturdy youth with big, bare arms
swinging his cleaning scythe and gathering the
sweet young grass which she fondy thinks is
the source of the delicious essence she in
haes But perfumes like many other things,
not always what they seem. Grass, freshly
cut otherwise, has had nothing to do with the
production OF the sweet-scented liquid labeled
"new-mown hay" The source of the essence is
really bean. Not the prosaic, everyday COM
monplace, edible bean of market gardens,
but a bean that grows in that section of the
world where once Eel Dorado, the "Glded One"
was thought to rule in glittering splendor; that
fabed land in the fruitless quest Of which so
many daring, goldoving adventurers spent
money, time, and lives most lavishly. II Is
known as the Tonqua, Tonka Tonquin bean,
said to be called because It was enormously
thought to have been first introduced into Eu.
rope from the Chinese province of Tonquln. How
ever II got its name, the real source of the bean
Is to be found In the tropical countries Of South
America chiefly in the valleys of the Orlnoco
Caura, and Cuchivero rivers In Venezuela and In
certain sections OF Colombia
The bean is the seed of Dipterix odorata a
tree belonging to the leguminosae or pulse family
The genus dpterx comprises about eight species
all large trees, to be found in the forests Of Bra
z the Guianas, Venezuela, Colombia, and trop
ical South America generally, having no repre-
sentatives in northern localities. The tree grows
from 60 to 90 feet high, with a trunk sometimes
three feet in diameter. The irdescent pods are
about two inches long, almond shaped and very
thick; the single seed is over an inch long and
shaped somewhat like a large kidney bean 1t
has a wrinkled skin Of shiny black color when
ready for the market. The odor which is
markaby strong, resembles that of sweet clover
or new-mown hay, and is due to the presence Of
coumarn, a concrete crystallizable, volatile
neutral substance, which is soluble in alcohol
and ether and somewhat so In boiling water.
from which 1t crystazes on cooling The beans
are often frosted with crystals of this substance,
which show distinctly on their black surface and
give them the appearance OF being sugar coated.
AS stated the tree is indigenous to tropical
South America but the section which produces
the largest quantities and perhaps the best va
riety Of the beans is the region between the
Caura and Cuchivero rivers. The watershed be-
tween these two streams consists Of several
mountain ranges of granite formation, the most
considerable OF which is the Serrania de Mato.
On the right bank of the Caura river mountains
of similar formation, of which Turagua is the
highest also exist. The average altitude Of these
te hatn 2 md A oil hon oh
there are peaks high 5000 feet. Besides
the mountain ranges many isolated hills and
large open masses OF granite, only little higher
than the surrounding country, are scattered
through the forest. The land in the vicinity OF
these mountains consists largely OF granitic grit,
and II is this soil that seems to be the most IA
vorabe for the growth OF the tonqua-bean tree.
The trees are not usually found in groves. but
grow sngly. though small clumps occasional
iy found. The gathering Of the nuts is thus all
the more difficult and arduous. The wood of the
tree is remarkably close-grained, very hard and
heavy and of reddish color. In some respects
IL resembles lignum-vitae and is frequently mis-
taken for It. 1t is highly priced as n cabinet
wood. While cultivation of the tree has been at
tempted in Trinidad and other OF the West Indies
to a limited extent, the fact that IL takes from
ten to twelve years to come into bearing has dis
couraged any systematic efforts along this line
and the wild product is still depended upon to
supply the market Again the crops seem 10
be very irregular and 1t is impossible to forecast
the yield Of any particular year AS rule there
Is perhaps not more than one good crop in every
three years, production in the intervals being
SO scant that II hardly pays to collect the beans
In, Venezuela the tree is known as sarrapia, and
the men engaged in the collection OF the seeds
or beans are called sarrapieros. Ciudad Bolivar
is the center OF the tonqua-bean industry Of
Venezuela. and Il is there that the sarrapieros
market their product.
One factor which has much to do with curtaIl-
ing the tonqua-bean crop is the presence of birds
in the tropical forests where the trees grow.
Especially are the large macaws with their gor.
geously colored plumage end the many other
varieties of the parrot family to be found in