THE ROYAL PALM Of CUBA.

Otago Witness, Issue 2317, 28 July 1898, Page 56

THE ROYAL PALM Of CUBA.

Not only is the climate of Cuba favourable to the planting of crops whenever the farmer chooses to plant them and the lands so rich that no fertilisation is ever required, but Nature seems to have, with a beneficent hand, reared many strange trees and plants to supply the wants of man without the necessity of his planting them himself. First among these are the palms— some 26 varieties of which adorn the fields of Cuba, giving shade, food, and life. At the head of these stands the royal palm. This majestic tree consists of a tall, straight trunk of fibrous wood, supporting a cluster of pennated leaves, like a bunch of plumes on a long stick. It is a marvel of beauty and 'utility, yet it is one of the most common of all trees in Cuba. It is met with most everywhere ; in the centre of broad pasture land's it often stands alone, tall and straight ; while bordering the cultivated fields of the rich planter it forms shady avenues to his dwelling. Again its seed finds root amid the gloom of the sombre forest, sending the tall shaft high up to find room for its fairy-like cluster of plumes in the free f.ir above. On the plains it often forms delicious groves of ghad.e x &c 4on the distant

mountain it may be seen rearing its phunod crest against the sky, and in the valley below its dark green leaves murmur softly" in sweet cadence with the winding rive*.' over which they sway. This palm has been called the blesse.l tree, for every part of it has its usefulness to mankind. Certain medicinal qualities are claimed for its roots, and its wunk :s easily split into strips, making excellent boards for the siding of houses, ben :hes, and even tables. As the trunk is without any bark, and its centre i.s very porojs, increasing in density towards the outer sur. foce, which is nearly as hard as glass, it is only the outside hard shell of the tuwfc which furnishes these boards. From I hi* hard fibrous wood some very pretty canes aie made, which take a most ba.mutul polish. The leaves of the palm grow from the. centre of the trunk, first in the foim at a delicate spire shooting up, which gia^ually unfolding itself forms a new leaf. Theso i leaves continue to grow from Hie centre- ! spire to a great length, forming the cluster i which, in the case of the royal palm, re- [ sembles so much a bunch of enormous plumes. The leaves when they cannot grow | any more, drop to the. ground from the I bottom of the cluster, thus making room I for the new ones which are always coming ! out of the centre. The bud or root of the centre spire, from which the leaves grow, consists of a tender bubslance buried deep down within tho cluster of green leaves, and forms a very palatable food, either in | the raw state, or conked as a vegetable, ov made into a preserve witb sugar. One of the peculiarities of the royal palm is tho stem of its long leaves. It is a. semicircular stem, which embraces the trunk of the tree and holds the leaf in place until if withers and drops to the ground This stem is called the " yagua." It resembles a thin board, often as long as a man is tall and the Cuban insurgent, now struggling for independence, makes it- serve him a variety of purposes For example, while I ' was in the field it frequently served me as a plate by simply cutting off a section oi it. By soakmg in water it is rendered pliable, and can be folded almost as readily as a piece of stiff paper. Thus softened ifc is folded at the ends, something after the fashion of a baker's paper hat, and fastened with wooden pins. Ip this shape it is i called a " c ata.rro." and serves the Cuban farmer as » water bucket, or a. washbasin, or a receptacle for milk, lard, cheese, eggs, or whenever a receptacle of any kind may be needed T have even seen a group of rebels lining a " 3 - ogua " thus folded as a kettle in -ivlu'cli to cook their breakfast of beef nnd yami. The water kept the fibious wood from burning, and I was assured <hsfc the iood thui cooked required no salt other than that which was extracted from tho " yagua "in tho process of cooking. I was also assured that in case of absolute necessity salt, could be obtained by the simple process* r<f boiling water in a " catarro " when green, and one enthusiast estimated that a dnw.'i "cotarros" would produce lib of salt — P.obcrt Blight, in Cunent Literature.