The Raymer enterprise., 1915-07-15


of the scullery maid and the pam
peret social butterfly whose more or less remote
ancestors doubtless breathed in the perfume as
it from the dewcovered. tender grass they
moved with shining blade and gathered with
their own strong arms The attraction OF the
perfume seems TO have fingered even through
many generations
New'mown hay not being always available and
somewhat too bulky for aesthetic use even when
II Is. the art OF the perfumer has been called
upon TO crafty the OF smell which longed
tof this particular aroma; so new .mown hay"
was added to the varied perfumes OF Araby'
used as toilet accessories In liquid FORM and now
miiady' may inhale 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 ths
sweet young grass which she fondly thinks is
the source OF the delicious essence she now In.
haies But perfumes, like many other things,
are not always what they seem. Grass, freshly
cut or otherwise has had nothing to do with the
production OF the sweetscented liquid labeled
nes-mown hay" The source Of the essence is
really bean Not the prosaic, everyday. com.
monpiace' edible bean OF our market gardens.
pal Dean that grows IN that section Of the
world where once FL Dorado the "Gilded One"
tabled land in the fruitess quest of which so
many daring goldloyng adventurers spent
money, time. and even lives most lavlshly. II Ia
known as the Tonqua, Tonka, or Tonauin bean
said to be so called because II was erroneousIv
thought to have been first introduced into En-
rope from the Chinese province of Tonauin How
ever II got It's name. the real source OF the bean
is 10 be found In the tropical countries of South
America, chiefly In the valleys OF the Orjnoco
caura, and Cuchyero rivers In Venezuela and IN
certain sections of Colombia
The bean Is the seed OF Dipterix odorata n
Tree belonging to the leguminosae or pulse family
The genus dipterix comprises about eight snecio.
all large trees. to be found In the forests OF Rr,
I'll, the Guianas Venezuela Colombia and ,ron
ieal South America generally, having no renra,
sentatves in northern localities The tree erows
from so TO 30 feet high. with a trunk sometimes
three feet In diameter The iridescent mods arc
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. II
mas ~rinkled skin of shiny black color when
ready for the market The odor. which is re
markably strong, resembles that of sweet clover
or new-mown hay, and is due to the presence Of
coumartn, concrete crystallizabIe volatile
neutral substance, which is soluble In alcohol
tt,
from which 1t crystallIzes 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 10 tropical
South America, but the section which produces
the largest quantities and perhaps the best va.
retF or the beans Is the region between the
Caura and Cuchvern 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 Iverage altitude of these
ranges is between 1900 md 1000 feet. although
there are peaks as high as 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 IL is this soil that seems to be the most ia.
vorable for the growth OF the tonqua bean tree
The trees not usually found In groves, but
grow singly, though small clumps are occasional
ly found The gathering OF the nuts is thus all
the more difficult and arduous The wood of the
tree is remarkably closegralned very hard and
heavy. and of reddish color In some respects
II resembles lignum.yitae and Is frequently mis-.
taken for II. II s highly priced as a cabinet
wood, While cultivation OF the tree has been at
tempted in Trinidad and other of the West Indies
to limited extent. the fact that 1t 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 10
supply the market Again the crops seem to
be very irregular and 1t is impossible to forecast
the WELD 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 sarrapa and
the men engaged in The collection Of the seeds
or beans are called sarraperos, Ciudad Bolivar
is the center of the tonqua bean industry OF
Venezuela. and 1t is there that the sarraperos
market their product
One factor which has much to do with curtail
ing the tonquabean 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 and the many other
varieties OF the parrot family to be found in