A TREE PRODUCES COFFEE SACKS.
A NOTABLE tree is the antiaris saccidora, or sack tree of Western India, the inner bark of which forms a very good material for sacking, and also for cordage. It often attains a height of one hundred feet, with a diameter of six. The native method of making sacks of this material is very simple. Usually a tree about one foot in diameter is chosen, and from this a section of the length desired for the sack is cut. The log is steeped for some time in water, in order to soften the bark, and is then beaten all round with clubs. In this way the outer bark is removed, and the inner detached from the wood and rendered soft and pliable. Next it is folded over on itself at one end, after the manner of skinning a squirrel, and so turned inside out. All that is now required to complete the sack is that one of the ends be sewed up, which is readily done. But a sack may be made without stitch or seam. This is done by arresting the process of skinning some two or three inches above the farther end of the log, and then sawing off the latter at that point. The sack has then a solid wooden bottom. These sacks are extensively used in Western India and Ceylon, and serve their purpose very well. The same material is sometimes349employed in the manufacture of clothing, and for paper making. To prepare it for the former purpose, the bark is stripped off in pieces, which are then thoroughly soaked and beaten out, till the texture becomes white and rough like fur. It is then cut according to the required shapes, and stitched together.—Secular.