Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 47.djvu/733

Rh and skylights with alternate strips of these colors, he has a light which when diffused blends into a practical white that allows the pictures to be seen as under usual conditions, while the danger of fading is made the smallest possible.

Pimento.—Pimento, allspice, or Jamaica pepper is the dried berry of the pimento tree of Jamaica, which grows to the height of twenty or thirty feet; and the markets of the world are wholly supplied from this source. The tree will not grow on the coast lands, but flourishes best on the mountains of the interior of the island. The tree from the leaves of which the aromatic principle of bay rum is extracted (Pimento acris) is also a native of Jamaica, but its cultivation has been neglected. The pimento tree is a plant of paradoxes. It is not friendly to cultivation, so that it has not been found possible to rear healthy plants from the seeds by artificial planting; and the stock can not be successfully increased by slips. The seedlings thrive, however, when the seed has been digested by a bird, and this source of supply is largely relied upon. When it is desired to stock land with pimento, the trees growing upon it are cut down and their trunks are left lying where they fell. The bushes and the brush are burned, and the ground is planted with provision crops. After the lapse of some months, young pimento plants may be seen springing from the soil in various places. Care must be taken to keep cattle from them, for they are very fond of the spicy leaves and would destroy the young plants. After two or three seasons cultivation is stopped and the grass is allowed to grow. Cattle are permitted to pasture on the land after the trees have grown out of their reach. The planter has now only to keep the land clear of brush and to gather his crops. The harvest begins in August, just before the berries turn black. One of each party of pickers climbs the trees, breaks off the berry-bearing branches, and throws them down to his comrades, who strip off the berries. The tree is left in a ragged condition, and the process seems to be a barbarous one, but it is said to be best for the trees. If they are pruned, the branches cut die to the main stem; while if the limbs are broken off they shortly send forth new shoots; and it is claimed that the year's yield depends largely on the extent to which the limbs have been broken the previous season. The crop is next cured by drying, winnowed, and prepared for the market. Pimento holds the fifth place of importance in the exports from Jamaica, being exceeded in value only by sugar, rum, coffee, and fruit; but the demand for it is declining, and its importance is therefore growing less.

The Tricks of Worthless Companies.—A report lately published by the English Board of Trade on the working of the Companies Winding-up Act during 1893 reveals some startling facts indicating mismanagement. Winding-up proceedings were begun during the year against more than a thousand companies out of a total of 16,104 in England and Wales, while 2,332 new companies were started. The whole number of liquidations during the two years 1892-'93 was nearly equal to one half of the number of companies formed during the same period. Besides these, a large number of new companies annually prove abortive and cease to exist, or, if their names are not taken from the register, remain there as moribund companies. From the figures of the past year it would appear that nearly two thirds of the companies formed fail to establish themselves as permanent enterprises. The report exposes the manner by which fraudulent or mistaken estimates have enticed simple and believing investors to risk and lose their savings. Malpractices begin with the prospectus and continue till liquidation. One case is cited in which the property sold to the company for two hundred and fifty thousand dollars had been bought a few months before by the promoter for three thousand dollars. In another case the interest in the publication of a periodical was bought by the promoter in June for fifteen hundred dollars in cash, and was sold in August to a company, practically consisting of himself, for fifteen thousand dollars in cash and fifteen thousand dollars in debentures, with a view of ultimately disposing of it to the public at a price based upon these figures. In another instance a small and worthless business was represented as a business in the various centers of industry in England