The Clio messenger. (Clio, Mich.) 1907-current, 1915-07-30

OF the neluS gratneS the OlIdc-
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
1t 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 even through
many generations.
New-mown hay not being always available, and
somewhat too bulky for aesthetic even when
1t 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 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 the
sweet young grass which she fondly thinks Is
the source Of the delicious essence she now In
Males. 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 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 bean that grows In that section of the
world where once FL Dorado, the "Gilded One"
was thought to rule In glittering splendor: that
tabled land In the fruitless quest of which so
many daring, gold-loving adventures spent
money, time. and even lives most lavshly II Ia
known as the Tonqua, Tonka. or Tonquin bean.
said to be SO called because It was erroneously
thought to have been first introduced into En-.
rope from the Chinese province of Tonqun How
ever II got It's name the real source Of the bean
is to be found In the tropical countries of South
America chiefly In the valleys of the Orinoco
Caura, and Cuchivero rivers in Venezuela and in
certain sections of Colombia
The bean is the seed of Dipterix odorata
tree belonging to the leguminosae or pulse family
The genus dipterix comprises about eight species
all large trees to be found in the forests Of Bra
I'll. the Guianas Venezuela Colombia and from
fcal South America generally, having no repre
sentat1ves In northern localities The tree grows
from go to 80 feet high, with a trunk sometimes
three feet In diameter. The iridescent pods are
about two inches long, almond shaped and very
thick; the single seed Is an inch long and
shaped somewhat like large kidney bean; It
has a wrfnkled skin of a shiny black color when
ready for the market. The odor, which is re-
markably strong. resembles that OF sweet clover
OF new-mown hay, and is due to the presence Of
coumarin, concrete crystallizable volatile,
neutral substance. which is soluble In alcohol
and ether and somewhat so In boiling water,
from which II crystalzes 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 lverage altitude of these
ranges Is between 1000 md 1000 feet, although
there peaks high as 5000 feet. Besides
the mountain ranges many ISOLATED bills and
large open masses OF granite, only little higher
through the forest The land in the vicinity of
these mountains consists largely of granite grit
and it 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 cumps are occasional
ly 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
II resembles lgnum-yitae and is frequently mis-.
taken for It. II is 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 it 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 to
be very irregular and it 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 it 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 called sarrapieros. CudaG Bolivar
is the center OF the tonqua-bean industry Of
Venezuela, and II 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
I'm the tropical forests where the trees grow.
Especially the large macaws with their gor.
geously colored piurSage and the many other
varieties OF the parrot family 20 be found m