THE RAIN TREE.

Waikato Times, Volume XXIII, Issue 1902, 13 September 1884, Page 4

THE RAIN TREE.

RrcENTiA- f-,he Land and Water published a notice respecting the woudeiful tiee known as the " Rain Tiee," which, it is stated in the notice, grows in South Ameiica, and is so lemaikable that travellers, when traversing an and and desolate tract of country, have ban struck with the strange contrast of seeing on one hand a bairen desert and on the other a rich and lnxuiiant vegetation The tree, this notice states, grows to the height of 60ft., with a diameter of 3ft at its base, and it possesses the powoi of attracting, abscnbii.g, and condensing the humidity of the atmosphere so strongly that water is always to bo seen diipping fiom its trunk in such quantity as to conveit the surrounding soil into a veritable marsh. The attention of the Hon. J. P. Abbot. Minister of Mines, New South Wales, was diawn to this notice, and lie called for a icpoit on the subject fiom the Inspector of Foie^-ts Mr J. Duff, who has wnttcn the following. — Foncst Consenancy Bunch, Depal tment ot Mines, Sjdney, 13th June, 18S4.— Sir -In aeconlance with your instiuctions on Mr Godhaid's memo , mimbeied as per maigin, 1 have the honour to infoim >ou that I have obtained the following j nfoimation lespect ing the habits and übCs of the ram tiee or goango, Albi//a saman (Mr F. Yon Muellei), or Pitheeolabium saman of 33etham :— B.non Mueller states in his woik on 'Extra Tiopical Plants" published in 18S1 that 'the rain tree,' or quango, is a lofty tiee, paiticularly valuable for wet, saline countiy, and it extends fiom Mexico to Brazil and Peiu. It attains a height of 70ft, trunk 6ft in diameter, the colossal bianches expanding 130 ft and it is of quick giowth, in outline not unlike an oak. It thrives best where the lainfall fluctuates between 30 and 60 inches a yeai — one of the bcsttieesin mild climes for loadside shade lines. The wood is hard and ornamental, but the principal utility of the tiee lies in its pulpy pods, which aie produced in gieat abundance, and constitute a veiy fattening fodder for all kinds of pastoral animals, wnich eat them with lelish.' Mr John Smith, A.L.S., ex ciuator of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, London, in his ' Dictionary of Economic Plants ' published in ISS'2, states that the 'Zamang is the Spanish name of this tiee, and that it is a native of Venezuela.' He quotes Humbolt's desciiption of the tree, which is as follows • — ' We saw in the evening at a league distant an object which appeared in the hoiizon like a round hillock co\eicd -with trees. It was neither a hill nor a gioup of trees close to one another, but one single tree — the famous ' Zamang-dcl Gauvie,' lcmai liable for the cnoimoiis extent of its branches, which foim a hemisphere head 576tt in cncnmfeienee, the diametei of the stem being !)ft near the giound It belongs to the mimosa section of tho ordei, Leguminos.L 1 , and is a species of the genus Pithcolabium (P. Saman) Seeds taken fiom the tire weio laised in the Botanic Caidens Tnnidad, in 1820. It appt ai^ to be last gi owing when young, a tiee 10 \eais old measunng IGft in circumfciciiLC ncai the giound. It has thick, ilattis.li, curved pods., about Sin m length and lm. in width, containing n, sweetish pulp. They ate in common use for feeding cattle, and for that purpose the tiee is now cultivated in diirercnt countnes. It is also known as the lam tiee.' I may fuither add that a few ycais ago a numbei of befdliiig plants of the lam tiee were received m the Sydney Botanic Gaidens from the Botanic Gaidens, Ceylon, ou le ceipt of which they weio placed in n bush-house whcie they grew well dining .summer months; but the whole of the plants peiished in the winter, which would indicate that the climate of Sydney is not suflKiently w aim for the cultivation of this tiee. The lain tiee icquhes a Wai in moist climate near the .sea ; and it might succeed m borne of the Not them Coast distiicts, but it is very doubtful if it would «iow in the inteiioi, or in distiicts subjects to dionghts and fiosts; the latter being the localities, whcie .such a tiee would be most lequiied for shade and stock feed. The '■tatfinent made by tia\ elleis in South Ameiica in Land and Water attached heielo that ' water is constantly dripping fiom tho tinnk of the tiuo in »uch quantities as to tomut the &oil into a vciitab'e m.nsh,' i->, I think, cxaggeiated, and lequncsfinthei ldiablc conJn mation. Stops should be taken to asceitam if the lain tree can be piociucd m the colonies, and if so, to piocuic plants and test its suitability foi \auous dibtncts in N( v\ South W .ile? ' — I have, etc, Jon v ])ni." Mi Abbott has dnccted Unit steps bo taken to piocuic some of the tiees, with a mlw to then iiitiodni tion into the colony of New South Wales

Smtcm i\c. a Prwim 11 oi roi Gu>l. — The i<,l!o\\i))g mi ions little stoiy ib told lij the Melbourne coiu-pondcnt of a Launc^ton p■;i c i — "A woman was sentincul to a month's impihonmc nt, which, being use (1 to tli.it kind of thing, she took cas'ly enough— iho could 'do it on 'er 'cd,' bhe told the piesidmg Magis tiate. Jlowmei, though '■lie took little heed of time, she found it hanging hea\ily on hei handh, and appealed to the waulcr i\ho infonncd his fan captive tint .she had ahedy been in m\ weeks, the fust and smaller moiety of a thice months' .sentence. The lady lemcmbeied well ■what the sentence leally was, and &he peisuaded him to mquiie. He found that the clerk had caicles^ly filled up a Aval rant for tin cc inonthb' impusotiment instead of one. The case was ciitical. Unless the woman could be got lid of, Messrs Patten and Jei \is w ould ma\ hot o\ei innumeiable actions foi damages. >So the delnifjuent cleik was pciimtted to tiy and anauge matteis lie did. He vent to the woman in the guise of the Govoinoi of the gaol, took vast ciedit for getting hi r out befoie hei time, inioimed her that theie weie other wan ants against her, advised her to make herself faoaice, and Uiantably ga\e her a milway ticket for a distant place. The woman took his advice and cleaied out, &o that all pai tics wcie Of couise this conld not happen in Melbourne ! Oh dear no."' b j m.lk Uitrinv : " I saj ma, my head aches, I'm gmii!; to stay home iiom .school t'lii^ afteinoim" Solicitious mitemal ancestor, ' Well, my dear, I'm <sOi ty. Stay at home and lest. ]t miv do joh good." Thiee horns later leeble vi chin 1 u&hes into the house with cheeks aglow. "J tell you we had a nifty game. Eighteen to fifteen. I played short. Gimme sutliin' to cat," — Haitfoid J^ost.

The Bad and Worthless aie never imitated or (ounta fitted. This, is especially tiue of a family medicine, and it is po&itive proof that the leinedy imitated is of the highe&t value. As soon as it had been te&ted and pioved by the ■whole woi ld that Ho}} Bitters was the purest, best and most valuable family medicine on eaith, many imitations spi ung up and began to steal the notices in which the piebs and the people of the country had expressed the merits of Jf. 15., and in every way trying to induce snfFuiing invalids to use their stuflfinstead, expecting to make money on the credit and good name of H. B. Many others started nostrums put up in similar .style to H. 8., with vaiious de\it>ed names in which the word "Hop " or " Hops " w ere used in a way to induce people to believ* they were the same as Hop Bitters. All such pretended remedies ov cures, no matter what their style or name is, and especially those with the woid " Hop " or " Hops " in their name or. in any way connected with them ov their name, are imitations or counterfeits. Beware of them. Touch none of them. Use nothing but genuine American Hop Bitters, with a bunch or cluster of green Hops on the white label, and Dr Soule's name blown in the glass. Trust nothiug else. Pruggists aud Chemists are warned against pealing in. imitations or counterfeits,