LEAVES, FRUIT, AND FLOWERS OF THE COW-TREE.
"It is a tall, slender tree, with leaves resembling the laurel in shape, but ten or twelve inches long. It grows in rocky places where there is very little moisture, and during the dry season its leaves are withered and the branches appear dead. But as soon as the trunk is pierced it gives forth a rich, nourishing juice that resembles milk in appearance, taste, and qualities, though it differs materially from the milk of animals. It contains a good deal of wax and fibrin, a little sugar and a salt of magnesia, the rest being water."
MILKING THE COW-TREE.
"And does it make cream like the milk of a living cow?"
"Yes; after standing a short time it becomes yellow and forms a sort of cream on the surface; this cream will gradually thicken into a semblance of cheese before it begins to putrefy. And the tree further resembles the cow in having its best milking-time in the morning; it yields more juice at sunrise than at any other time, and before daylight the natives gather at the trees to fill their bowls with the milk. The negroes and Indians drink freely of this milk, but the white inhabitants generally care little for it."
Frank fell to meditating upon the feasibility of introducing the cow-tree into his father's orchard, and having a supply of milk where it did not need to be driven up at night. His calculations were suddenly interrupted by the announcement that dinner was ready, and his practical nature, backed by a good appetite, put an immediate end to his enterprise.