El Paso herald., August 26, 1911, Annual Advancement Edition---Section 6, Page 7, Image 47

About El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931

Image provided by: University of North Texas; Denton, TX

                
Saturday, -August 26, 1911".
1.
New Calisher Department Store, El Paso
FIST IN OUR TEACUP
SHE IS TKYING TO CONTROL THE MARKET
. OF THE FAR EAST
HOW THE GOVERNMENT IS WEDDING THE
GRAINS, FRUITS AND FLOWERS.
A Commercial Campaign the Object of WMch Is to Sub
stitute Formosan Teas For Those of China and
India in This Country Japan's Strategic
x Advantage Incidentally She Means 4
to Sweenten the Tea With Her ";
Own Sugar
Baby Wheats Which Mean Millions New Grains for
the Dry Lands and Rice for the Wet Manchurian
Millets and-Siberian Sorghums New Seeds of
One Week Choice Fruits From China.
Persimmons as Big as Base Balls and
Jujubes Like the Biggest Dates.
EL PASO HERALD
MARRIARFS
limm inuLu
0
I
PITS
r
(By Rene Bache.)
'(Copyright, 1911, by
w-yASHINGTONIX C, Aug. 26.
a Urible 'Sam Is running a great
' matrimonial bureau. He
makes marriages by -the hundreds a
month, and adds to his children by the
tens of thousands a year. He not only
marries those within his ojm bounda
ries, but he has his agents traveling
at government- expense far and wide
over the world searching out new
brides and grooms to mate with them.
These marriages; however, are not
of men and, women, but of plants. It
is strange o think of plants marrying,
but the vegetable world is male and
female. It is made up of such matches,
and from them are coming forth new
and valuable plant children each day.
Every one has heard of Luther Bur
bank, who married the plum to the
apricot and made the plumcot, who
made the white blackberry out of the
brunette and a cross, and who took
the ox-eyed daisy and . by uniting it j
with other varieties created the great
Shasta flower, which is many times
larger. The agricultural department
has a half dozen men who have done
as much original work as Luther Bur
bank, and there are scores of others
scattered over the country, at our state
and national experiment stations, who
are yearly producing grains and fruits
which will add enormously to our
national wealth.
Oar New Bab?- Wheats.
Take the matter of wheat. The agri
cultural matchmakers of Minnesota
have done -wonders in their marriages
of those servants of man. They hav,e
crossed the various wheats, and they
have "how 2000 hybrid babies which
they are testing. They have produced
one offspring whicli has been already,
scattered over 1,000,000 acres, and an
otherAwhich is being planted upon 500,
000. Some of the new wheats, are show
ing gains of from two to five bushels
per acre, and some have averaged as
high as 47 bushels. The old wheats
beside them have been giving only
15 or 20. If the wheat crop of the
United States could be increased only
three bushels per acre it would add at
least 100,000,000 per year to our re
ceipts from that source. -
The grains used in producing these
hybrids have pedigrees dating far back
into history. They have been collected
from all parts of the world.. Among
the '"wheats now used are some sent
by Mr. Aronson from Palestine. He i
has discovered there a- wild wheal
whose ancestors are supposed to have
grown ifl-the Garden of Eden and there
Is another wheat which has been found
in ihe tomb of an Egyptian mummy
more than 3000 years old.
Among the new varieties 4 which we
are how planting1 is that brought in
from the dry lands bordering the Sa
hara in southern Algeria. This is
the durum or macaroni wheat which
M, A. Carleton, one of our agricultural
explorers, sent to be tested upon the
.semi-arid lands of our middle west
It was tried In Kansas, Nebraska and
Texas, and the first crop was 7o,000
b.ushels. That was eight or nine years
ago. The second crop was over
1,000,000, and we are now raising o0,
00 000 bushels, about one-half of
which is exported to Europe and som?
to the very country whence the wheat
"ame. That wheat all comes from land
'-which would not grow wheat before
Xew Grains for tke Farmer.
Similar experiments are being made
bv our experts of the agricultural
department in almost every grain
known to man. New grains and new
varieties of the old grains are being
gathered from all over the world and
brought here for testing and uniting
irith other varieties. This is espec-
.. i "V,,.-iTr t-nA T-lrf S
.lally so of corn. oats. llVr
Our corn crop last year as worth
OVer $l,OUU,UUU,UUlf. 1W aiuc voj tu.. -
tban a dozen times that of our gold
and silver output, and the amount
raisedwas so great that it would have
.filled a solid four horse . wagon .train I
.reaching from nere to ine moun h. hu
skies conld be bridged and the corn
'taken thither. Nevertheless, the corn
woofipr tpll me that by marrying the
.different varieties and planting good j
seed this crop couia De uuuuieu iu.
out the addition of one acre to the
area or adding more fertilizer. All
that is needed is good seed and culti
vation and the land will produce from
two ' to four times what it does now.
This matter is understood by our well
informed farmers, who belong to the
many corn breeding associations scat
tered over the union. The varieties
of corn are now as, well known as
those of cattle and horses. The best
are being crossed and recrossed, and
& variety may be discovered, which
will be worth a great deal of money.
As it is the best seed brings a high
price in the market.
Plants for Our Dry Lands.
I am told at the agricultural depart
ment that they are making a special
effort to discover new cereals for the
- dry farms of the west, aunycuuiw .-
;?oC iiqvo been introduced, and some -
J1,-u "' nn i :n , I
of these are yielding rrom w iu y
cent more than those of the past. A
great deal of work is being done in
millets and sorghums, and Uncle Sam s
agents in Manchuria have sent several
of these from that country. They are
slso using the Siberian sorghums and
kowliangs from China. These millets
have been married to others, and their
children may be better adapted to our
soil and climate than the parents from
faraway Asia.
We are Introducing alfalfas from Si
beria which withstand the cold and
drouth and also drouth resisting trees
-which will produce stock food and
fruit. Among the fruit trees is an olive
-w.hich grows in the half desert parts
of North Africa, where the rainfall for
years at a stretch is often less than 10
inches. In the same connection is the
date which is being grown in the
irrigated hot regions of southern Call-
large fruited, dry land Chinese date,
which we arc grafting and which seems
to promise a new dried fruit industry.
The Marriage of the Rice.
Uncle Sam is giving new crops to the
wet lands as well as to tho dry. He is
Frank Gh Car penter).
, bringing rice- from all pirts .of the
wpna ana marrying uit caut-jcui va
rieties. This is a job. There are no less
than 1400 .different kinds of that grain
in Japan, India and China, and some of
these are .found to grow better than
our famous "South Carolina "rice, -which
was long considered the best of tho
world. Not long Ago ve sent the late
Dr. i SI A. Knapp to Japan, and he
brought back rice from the island of
Kfushu which has revolutionized this
industry, and added millions of dollars
to the value of our crop. We have
now rice for the uplands as well as for
the swamps, and, on the prairies of
Arkansas we are raising twice as much
to the acre as they aregettlng in South
Carolina and Georgia. We now produce
hundreds of millions of pounds of rice
every year, and that at less cost than
Asia can raise it with cheap coolie la
bor. The secrete is in the use of .ma
chinery, -and the profits are large,
averaging 550 and upward per acre.
SinoR these introductions the rice
lands of the United States have been
j greatly extended. The crop is now very
large in Louisiana, Arkansas and rex
as, and it Is' said that it can be grown
on any soil adapted to' wheat or cot
ton, provided the climatic conditions
are right.
Some Other New Crops.
We are also breeding new cottons,
marrying the best of India and Egypt
to our favorite daughters of the "up
lands and 'sea islands. We are breeding
for seed as well as for lint We are
breedine corn for the oil -contained in
the grain and also to -increase the size
- . - . 3 j.i. : ..
oi me crop ana' cm uuwu uih sie ui
the cob. We are making oranges which
will withstand the frost, extending the
orange belt 400 miles farther north- "We
are marrying the lettuces, and joining
tho varieties of flax so that the plants
are taller and the fibers are better.
We are marrying the tobaccoes from
all parts of the world and growing cer
tain kinds for wrappers and others for
fillers and binders.
In this -work we are aided by agri
cultural explorers who have been sent
all over the world and who are now
scratching the skin of old mother earth
for new plants and seeds. There is a
bureau devoted to this introduction in
the west wing of the agricultural de
partment, and it is one of the busiest
places in Uncle Sam's factory. It has
already introduced something like "30,
000 new vegetable creations and more
are -arriving each day. The moment one
comes in it is sent to the special sta
tion or plant breeder best fitted to test
and develop it, and within a few days
it is under the earth and in just the
conditions fitted to give good results.
Records are kept of every receipt and
there are now several hundred thou
sand cards which tell the story of eacu
distribution.
The Seeds and Plants of One Week.
During my stay in the department,
professor David Fairchild, who Is- at
the head of the bureau, showed me
something of the work as it is now go
ing on. With him I went over the cards
that have "been received the past week.
Here are the Items: The first is a new
alfalfa from Pretoria, South Africa, the
second a scarce barley from Nepal in
India, and a third ax Japanese larch sent
from (Copenhagen in "Denmark. And
then we have a new magnolia from
Calcutta, which will be married to a
yellow magnolia just received from
Biutenzorg, Java, a new kind of ba
nana which comes here through the
Kew gardens of England, and. 21 bulbs
of the yellow lily, which are sent from
Ta Chow-fu in China, on the borders
of Tibet- Other importations of this
week are a -white rubber from near
Buena Ventura, Colombia, which it is
thought may be grown on the Ever
glades of Florida, a new tobacco from
3cl"'-i iixia, vu.un, which ma.y wim-
stand the Granville tobacco insect, and
& passion fruIt from TahItIf the
Santa Clara, Cuba, which may with-
Society islands of the Southern Pacific
ocean.
This passion friut is as large as a
peach, and it Is thought that it may
be crossed wIth the may-pop of South
Carolina, It makes delicious ices, and-
the profits of raising It may reach as
high as $300 per acre. The fruit is now
grown in the greenhouses of England
and it commands a good price in the
markets. i
In addition to these, the bureau re
ceived -yesterday a hardy white ginger
from the province of Shantung In
China, which will be planted In 2exas,
four species of persimmons from Java,
'and some plants related to the papaya
from the royal botanical gardens at
Borne. Explorer Parker, of Mukden,
has just sent In eight new kinds of
soy beans from Manchuria, and some of
these, it is thought, may produce an
oil which can be mixed with linseed oil
to be used as a paint dryer. There are
also several new wheats from the
highlands of Mexico, and a number of
mangoes to be added to the several
hundred varieties which have already
b3en tested.
New Crops for Uncle Sam.
This work of )ne- week gives vou
some idea of -what Uncle Sam is doing
t f5 fl -food fnr hf Xma-nt-r. v.nrf
uv .,ui wwjviid.
New seeds, and plants are coming in
daily by express, freight and mail and
in some cases the importations weigh
I tons. Among the .results already ac
complished -we have now the largest
collection of date varieties known.
They are growing In the gardens of
Arizpna and California. We have also
the greatest variety of mangoes extant
and we are testing that fruit with a
view to its introduction Into Florida,
Porto Rico and Hawaii. ' We have
French, artichokes now growing in the
truck gardens of the south, Kaffir
corn from Abyssinia, which is being
tested in Kansas, and a new kind of
oats from northern Finland, which is
,. being grown in Alaska. We have now
alfalfas from Arabia and Chinese Tur
kestan. We are starting a sisal hemp
industry in Porto Rico, and -we are
growing Japanese bamboos, which, It
is thought, will take the place of tho
old cane brakes of the south. We have
also a valuable paper plant from Japan,
wood, oil trees from China, and aro
netting out, in California, hundreds of
plants which it is thought will make
varnish. We have also a pedigreed
To Be
barley which is -especially desired by
the brewers, and altogether so many
other fruits, grains and trees that to
mention them would be like quoting a
.o.tany.
Persimmons as Big as Baseballs.
Amons? the fruits in which the de
partment is especially interested just'
now is the persimmon. Not the little
persimmon as big- as a walnut which
' 1 ..IV. T,..t 4-1, Tnnnnnon
grows in our suuiu, uuu nic ottiioucoq,
Chinese and Korean persimmons which
are as big as baseballs or larger. I
have eaten them in all of these coun
tries and I verily believe they are the
most delicious -fruit upon earth. Some
kinds look like mammoth tomatoes,
and when ripe are so soft they can be
s'cobped up with a spoon. Others are
eaten while still hard like apples, and
others are frozen and served like "a
sherbet or Koman punch.
These Asiatic persimmons are beau-;
tiful. They are sometimes of ari
orange red color, measuring from three
to five inches in diameter, and often
weighing more than a pound. Frank
N. Meyer, one of "the most 'expert of
our agricultural explorers, has dis
covered one which is as seedless as a
navel orange, which has no pucker
and can be eaten when green and
hard. It is known as the Tamopan
persimmon and was found, I believe,
somewhere near the Ming Tombs, north
of Peking, Mn a climate colder than
any of our states of the south. He has
sent cuttings which will be grafted
on our persimmon trees, and it may
be that this fruit will some day be
almost as common as apples. The
trees are said to be hardy. They bear
so heavily that the limbs break and
DEMING
Otto Kroeger, Contractor.
RI1IHK UND SILVER CITY M"Y MIX OP" OyEfl POLITICS
IN COMING ELECTION-DEW FARMERS PROGRESSIVE
Deming, N. M., Aug. 26. While Luna
county Is normally a Democratic coun
ty, there has since the last general
election been a large influx of settlers,
and the political complexion of this
increase, it is impossible to determine.
There is no doubt that the largest pro
portion of settlers has been from Illll
nols, Nebraska, Iowa and adjoining
states. However, it is generally con
ceded that the county is still safely
Democratic. At the present time there
are two Republican officeholders in j
the county, the sheriff, D. B. Stephens,
and the treasurer, Chris Raithel.
From talk on the streets, It can be
gathered that there will be a number
of candidates for Democratic nomina
tion for the ofrice of county assessor
at the coming election. It is not likely
that the present incucmbent, C. W.
Cook, will be again a candidate for
the nomination. C. C. Rogers, Albert;
Field, Ney B. Gorman and J. B. Hodg
don are spoken of as likely candidates
for the Democratic nomination for this
position. Xiee O. Iester, the present
probate clerk and exofficlo recorder,
will be a candidate for the Demo
cratic nomination for the position of
county clerk. D. B. Stephens, the pres
ent sheriff, has announced "that he will
be a candidate for nomination on the
Republican ticket for the same office.
It is understood generally that Chris
Raithel will also be a candidate for
reelection to the treasureship.
In the matter of the district attor
neyship and district Judgeship, a pe
culiar condition exists. The district is
composed Of Grant and Luna counties.
Grant county is numerically strong
enough to control the district conven
tion. Should they usethis strength
to nominate on the Democratic ticket
a Sillyer City man for both these
offices, it is quite llikely that a strong
Republican candidate for judge could
muster enough Democratic and inde
pendent votes In Luna county ) and
enough Republican votes in Grant
county to land te job. The Demo
crats of Luna county seeen to have
no available man for district attorney,
but for the judgeship they think they
have jiist the man, so It is quite likely
that In the Democratic district con
vention Luna county will make a
strong fight for one certain Luna
county Democrat for judge.
A number of prominent politicians
of Deming, both Democratic and Re
publican, are away on their summer
vacations. They will return shortly,
however, and things will evidently be
gin to warm up.
"Watermelons In Luna County.
Henry Meyer has just .shipped from
Occupied Exclusively by This Department
they last for 40 or 50 years before the
fruit fails.
There are many other persimmons
in Asia which have seeds, but they all
grow large and they are one of tho
most common fruits in the markets.
The natives have a method of taking
out the astringency or pucker by-cleaving
the fruit several days in a cask or
tub which has once- contained a spir
ituous liquor. The effect of the liquor
which is soaked into the wood seems
to take out the pucker. We" are now
raising some Japanese persimmons in
.Florida, where the crop is said to be
commercially profitable. There is no
doubt that the fruit can be grown
wherever out native persimmon now
thrives, and it is probable in many
places much farther north. t
Frank Meyer's Work.
Indeed, it is impossible to estimate j
the value of our agricultural explora
tions. They cost-us comparatively lit
tle, but they yield bigger dividends
than" any other money appropriated by
congress. t
Take, for instance, the work of
Frank N. Meyer, the man who has sent
us the persimmons I have Just men
tioned. He is now in Chinese Turkes
tan, west of Tibet, traveling on foot
and on camels, looking up new plants
and seeds for arid lands. He receives,
all told, something like $5000 a year,
and out of this pays his traveling ex
penses, doing the work more as an
enthusiast and for the good of the
country than as a means of making a
living. He is one of the most famous
of our botanists and plant experts, and I
like Powell, who recently belonged
AND MIMBRES
The Deming office of the El Paso
Herald is in the Chamber of Com
merce. Roy Bedichek is agent and
cqrre'spondent.
The Herald's distributor in Dem
ing is C. C Rogers, room 1. Deck
ert building, telephone 213. The
Herald will be delivered to all
parts of the city same night of pub
lication, at GO cents per month.
his own patch and from the Van
Sickle ranch 6000 pounds of watermel
ons to Silver City. The 274 melons
averaged in weight a trifle oveip 20
pounds apiece. In this carload were
melons grown by Earl Craig on the
Van Sickle ranch from the seed of one
Tom Watson melon to the amount of
$45. The melon from which these
proflable seed was taken was a prize
winner at the Luna County fair last
season.
Rev. W. E. Foulks, one of the most
successful Deming gardeners and or
chardists, is planting three acres of
fall onions on his place, four miles
south of town. He is also planting one
acre to fall cabbage, and a considerable
acreage to beets and turnips for win
ter feed. He will also increase his
acreage in orchard this fall.
Improvements On Farms.
Col. L. J. Carter is making extensive
improvements on his desert claim, 16
miles south of Deming. He is prepar
ing to insal this year a pumping plant
large enough to take care of his en-,
tire tract. He will plant to crop next
years 80 acres. Considerably this side
of Mr. Carter's place and just north
of the Mountain "View neighborhood,.
Sam T. Clark and Dr. A. J. Hulen have
been putting good improvements upon
their homesteads. F. W. Jansen in
the same locality has grubbed 25 acresf
built a nice three room cottage and
a large barn.
Big Pumping Proposition.
The Little Vineyards company has'
just completed its second well. It is
150 feet in depth and contains 25 feet
of good water bearing ntaterlal. Thei
pit Is 26 inches in diameter and 67 feet
in depth. A 1500 gallon pump will'
be installed at a depth of 55 feet from
the surface, and will be operated with'
a 35 .horse power direct connected mo-
tor. The pump and motor are already
on the ground and the work of in-'
stalation is being pushed rapidly.
This company brought in its first
well only about three weeks ago, and
are now watering 90 acres of crop.
Both these wells are for the purpose
of reclaiming about 1000 acres of land
lying from a mile to three miles east
of Deming. While under ordinary cir
cumstances these two wells will be
amply sufficient to irrigate and reT
claim this tract, a third well will be
put in before another season, as a-.mat-
Trost & Trost, Architects
to the same bureau, he could easily
command a salary of $10,000 a year,
if he chose to leave the department.
Mr. Meyer has traveled all oven
China. fManchuria and Siberia, sending
us new fruits, nuts and grains. In ad
dition to the persimmon, he has given
us a score or more new peaches, which
are now being tested. Some of these,
are as large as navel oranges; others
have a flesh which is blood red, look
ing more like that of a beet root than
anything else. He has sent in the
socalled honey peach, which grows in
Shantung, and the beef 'peach df
ShansI, which looks like raw meat.'
Some of ) the peaches now being" tested
are flat, and they are of all shades
from -green and yellow to a rich rosy
red.
Mr. "Meyer has sent in many apricots
from China, and wild apricots from
Manchuria and northern Korea, -which
will stand more cold and drouth than
anything we now have. Some of these
apricots have been successfully tested
at Boston, and some even as far north
as Wisconsin.
We are indebted to Mr. Meyer also
for new Chinese varieties of plums,
cherries, quinces'and apples, as well as
for other fruits which the department
expects will be grown in different parts
of the country. One of the most im
portant of the latter is the jujube, the
fruit of which is not unlike dates
and can be eaten fresh, dried, and pre
served, and also stewed or smoked. The
jujube will grow Jn an alkali soil, and
it Is well adapted to some of the dry
lands of the west.
Frank G. Carpenter.
VALLEY
i ter 0f insurance against unforeseeen
contingencies.
Land Office Bnsiaess:
The following business was trans
acted in the local land .office:
Application to make final proof by
LeRoy Hon on northwest quarter of
section 18, township 25 south, range
9 west.
Application to make final proof by
Nora Baker, southeast quarter section,
5, township 24 south, range 9 west.
John B. Taylor, desert entry, north
west quarter section 25, township 24
south, range 10 west.
Roy B. Cutler, desert entry, south
half of the northeast quarter and north
half of the southeast quarter township
23 south, range 7 west.
Agnes Dornslfe, desert entry, east
half section 22, township 26 south,
range 9 west.
Application to contest' Cora G. Mat
thews vs. J. Clem Huff, southwest
quarter of southeast quarter, south half
of southwest quarter and northwest
quarter of southwest quarter section
10, township 23, range 9 west.
Thos. K. Rourke, desert entry, west
half section 6, ownship 25 south, range
11, west.
Eliria E. Rourke, west half section
31, township 25"southt range 11 west.
Deming Briefs.
Word comes from Mrs. J. B. Taylor.
j -who was called to Cromwell, Ky to
attend her mother, who was severely
ill, that her mother has about recov
ered. Mrs. Taylor will return to Dem
ing within the next week.
R. L. Miller has opened a real es
tate office in the building occupied
by Messrs. Lester & Perry, abstrac
tors. R. B. Snyder left Deming for Dodge
City, Kan., where he will spend a cou
ple of weeks on business.
G. W. O. Martin and wife have re
turned from the Mimbres Hot Springs,
where they have been for the last six'
weeks.
A. D. Kennedy, of Houston, Texas,
has taken a position in the Tricomoli
can barber shop. '
Messrs. Cooper & McTeer have
opened a real estate office in the
Fielder building.
ENGLISH SYNDICATE MAY
BUY BILLIE MACK MINE
Negotiations are In progress for the
purchase of the Billy Mack mine, lo
cated six miles northeast of Parker,
Yuma county, Arizona, by an English
syndicate. Billy Mack, owner of the
property, has returned to Parker from
Pasadena to consult with the prospect
ive buyers. They have their- own as
sayer and expect to be ai thymine for
two weeks. The property is equipped
ivith a hoist and other machinery, and
i is said that considerable rich ore
Is exposed in the workings
Store.
HAVING practically driven Ameri
can trade out of Manchuria, the
Mitsui Bussan Kaisha that
great Japanese monopoly, compared
with which our steel and other trusts
are mere Infants in arms is taking
steps to prevent our tea buyers from
purchasing Formosan Oolong, except
through its own agencies, and to se
cure control of the tea output of -the
Orient, outside of India and Ceylon.
The situation Is quite Interesting
from an American standpoint, inas
much as about" half the tea imported
into the United States comes from
Japan and vthe island of Formosa, and
in 1910 we bought no less than 16,
807,344 pounds of Formosan Oolong.
To Push Sales is. America.
a
The Mitsui Bussan Kaisha, which,
might he said to be commercial' Japan
Incorporated, or the next thing to it,'
has decided to spend $800,000 during
the next ten years in pushing the sale
of Japanese and Formosan teas in this
country. One- expedient to be. adopted
with this end in view is to distribute
hundreds of thousands of tins of a
superior quality of tea among the mer
chants, hofels and restaurants of the
United States. There is also to be
much advertising by pictorial placards
and illustrated pamphlets. Such is the
plan of campaign. t
Meanwhile, ln order to make the sit
uation clear, it should be explained
that up to 1893, -when there was a war
ibetween Japan and China, Formosa
-was the property of the latter coun
try. But, as a result of that conflict,
so disastrous to the middle kingdom,
the island, passed into the possession
of Japan. Up to that time the great
tea output of Formosa was handled at
Amooy, giving much, prosperity to
that city, but the Japanese have
taken this, "trade- away from
Amooy, which in consequence has fal
len upon evil days, commercially
speaking, and has lost all of its old
time importance as a seapoft.
Now, China is at present producing
about one-half of the total tea grown
in the world, or more than twice the
output of India (not counting Ceylon.)
But this is merely a matter of quanti
ty, the Chinese teas being recognized
everywhere in the world's markets as
inferior. They are prepared by the
most primitive, methods, mostly in the
huts of poor peasants, and are com
monly dirts'. Naturally,, it follows
that, as a rule, they fetch low prices.
Are Flgrktlag: tae Chinese.
What the Japanese are trying- to do
is to run the Chinese teas out of the
market, so far as all but the lowest
grades are concerned? and to compete
much more formidably than hitherto
with the product of India and Ceylon.
They deprive an enormous strategic
advantage from the possession of For
mosa (an island about as big as Sar
dinia and Corsica put together), which
Is one of the garden spots of the world,
and by nature extraordinarily well
adapted for tea-growing.
From -what has already been said it
will be inferred that Formosa's output
of tea was immense in quantity when
the Island was owned by China. But
the Japanese are steadily augmenting
it by extending the area of produc
tion; and, incidentally, they are taking
every possible means to improve the
quality of the leaf. An experimental
tea garden has been 'established at
an expense of $150,000, for the practice
of scientific methods of culture and
treatment, the object in view being not
only to evolve superior varieties, but
also to develop Improved processes for
preparing the teas for market.
Is Formidable Organization.
As for the Mitsui Bussan Kaisha,
which is behind thfs tea movement
(and which, by the way, employs rep
resentatives all over the United States,
as well as In other countries), one may
judge of its formidable character as a
commercial organization from the fact
that it is the only . concern that ever
beat Standard Oil.' It has- literally
driven the Rockefeller trust out of
Japan! It controls not only the oil
wells of the Japanese empire, but also
the cotton and other textile mills, all
the important banks, and ever so many
other industries, even Including the
merchant marine of that country. If
there Is necessity, as in some parts of
Manchuria, it will even sell goods at
retail. TJiere is rtothlng In the way
of trade too small from Its viewpoint
to be "worth handling.
Pursuing this policy, the Mitsui Bus
san Kaisha has recently become an en-
ormous buyer of Formosan teas. It"
Is already the sole selling agent of the
Formosan camphor monopoly (which
prettj, nearly controls the camphor
output of the world), and apparently
it means to obtain the same sort of
control over the tea output of that re
markable Island. Its activities In this
direction, however, also cover Japan, In
many parts of which, under its aus
pices, model tea farms, model tea pre
paring factories, and tea manufactur
ing schools have recently been estab
lished for the education of the people.
To give the devil his due (as the
saying goes), the Formosan tea grow
er's send to market a product -which is
at least relatively pure, and free from
the adulterants so commonly character
istic of Chinese teas. In particular,
there is no artificial coloring, or "fac
ing." For this reason the new tea
standards for 1911 established by the
United States government have had no
unfavorable effect upon importations
of teas from Formosa. At the same
time, the India and Ceylon teas, in
view of J their excellent quality, are
fully holding their own with Ameri
can consumers.
riae Teas Come High.
When Chinese teas are spoken of
as inferior, it should be realized that
this term does by no means apply to
the finer grades produced in the
middle kingdom and which are prac
tically withheld from export, finding
a market at high prices at home.
What is considered in the United
States a good grade of tea Is pur
chasable for 75 cents a pound. But
this grade In China is worth only
about 15 cents and weuld be regarded
over there as unsuitable fer m; even
by th moderately we!lto4o. "Wealtky
folk in that country think notklag of
paying $5 a pound for te.
The finest of all teas la he so
called "virgin tea" of China. It is
made from, only the very ye-anseet
leaves and is used principally when,
marriages are celebrated araeng" peo
ple of the wealthy class. In gather
ing the leaves care Is taken that they
shall be touched as little as possible
by human hands. They are tied up In
tiny bundles with silk thread 'and,
when the drink Is brewed, a bundle
is held with an ivory or silver skewer
in a large cup of very thin glass
while boiling water is poured into
thehe receptacle. Under this dainty
treatment the Reaves slowly unfold,
lose their gray and dingy loek, and
revert to nearly -the same refreshing
greenness they possessed when
plucked.
India's "Brick: Tea.
The tea-planters of India, axe giv
ing special attention just new to the
preparation of "brick tea." fee export
to Tibet and Russia. Such tea. for the
Russian market is made "from ground
and powdered leaves of good1 quality,
the product being steamed and. then
pressed by hydraulic power into
molds. When dry. the blocks thus
produced are packed in. bamboo bas
kets for transport for immense dis
tances overland usually on the backs
of coolies. The brick tea fer Tibet,
however, is a very Inferior article,
composed largely of twigs and pre
pared by the crudest methods.
Tibet, politically Sr province of
China, though governed from. Peking
by a very uncertain dominion. Is an
exceedingly poor country the bulk
of its Inadtequate j wealth beinf ab
sorbed and held by a parasitic Bttdd?
hist priesthood. But It must have tea
a beverage deemed indispensable
even by the poorest Inhabitant and
this commodity is Imported mainly
from-Honkow, In the form: of bricks
the quantity annually consumed
amounting to something like 39,6419,
000 pounds.
The tea-producing countries o the
world last year exported about 1,250,
000,000 pounds of the indispensable
leaf. One says "indispensable," and
yet tea. as a beverage was unknown
even to the far east up to 400 years
ago, though Tor a whiTe previously it
had been used as a medicine in China.
Most Authorities are of the opinion
that the plant originated in Assam,
where It the present day it attains
a greater size than anywhere else in
the world. It was first Introduced
into Europe late in the lth centurv,
and In 1657 the first "tea house" vras
opened In Exchange alley, in the city
of JLondon. (
Invades Sugar Field.
Not content with trying to upset
the tea market of the world, Formosa,
Is now engaged In an effort to se
cure control of the sugar production
of the orient The Mitni ?na.n
t Kaisha (again the god in rthe fraa-
omutv proposes to taxe away from
Java the predominance which that
Dutch-owned island has hitherto pos
sessed in the sugar trade of that part
of the world. Apparently, the plan
is to shut out Java.
Last year Formosa produced 573,
225,000 pounds of sugar, of which
132,519,000 pounds was refirfed sugar
and 440,706,000 pounds brown sugar.
One company is planning a great fac
tory, to be erected in the southwest
part of the island with a capacity oi
1,200 tons of raw sugar daily. Mean
while, we ourselves are furnishing
Japan with the requisite sugar
making machinery, made in Honolulu.
Thus it appears that Japan means
not only to control the tefit market
of the far east, but also to furnish,
the sugar with which to sweeten the
beverage both the tea and the sugar
to be produced in Formosa.
Rene Bache.
SMELTER TUMBLES
AND MINE CLOSES
The famous United Verde mine, sen
ator Clark's property, at Jerome, Ta
vapai county, Arizonat Is temporarily
out of commission, after havinr paid
dividends of 75 cents a .month for many
years. The reason is not the low price
of copper. or any lack of ore but the
United Verde smelter has llterallly
tumbled down through the caving of
the ground, as the smelter was built
directly over the mine workings.
-In, the meantime the production of
the mine is stopped and it' will not be
much of a factor as a producer ef cop
per until the new smelter is completed,
which will probably take at least a
year.
TWIN BUTTE COMPANY TO
RESUME AOTTVK OPERATIONS
Xarge mine operatioas will be com
menced by the Twin JButtes Mining
company, at Twin Buttes, 29 miles
south of Tucson, Arizona, as soon as
the Pioneer smelter, now in course of
construction, Is completed. This was
decided upon at a recent meeting of
the Twin Buttes company stockholders.
The stockholders decided to pay off
the outstanding obligations of the com
pany, amounting to about 335,000, im
mediately. This dpne, the mine will
remain in its present quiet state until
the smelter which the Pioneer company
Is building near Twin Buttes Junction
is ready. Then a large force of men
will be put to work, ore -will be mined
on an extensive scale, and the mine
will again be in full operation.
ARE DEVELOPING NEW FXVD
IN MOHAVE COUNTY XI NX
Soper and Carney have been devel
oping a recent discovery in the Wright
section of Mohave county, Arizona. The
mine has been opened to a depth of al
most 100 feet and shows a good body of
ore. Samples taken across 40 inches of
the ore gave a value in gold of S5S to
the ton. This average Is said to have
been maintained throughout the shaft
and is still to be had in the bottom.