Of all the trees in the world, you would imagine this to be the most outcast and worthless—so meager a living does it obtain from the waste of sand and gravel in which it grows. And yet this goblin tree is now being sought after and utilized in one of the world's greatest industries—an industry that affects the daily needs of civilization, and is of especial importance to every girl and boy who reads the pages of St. Nicholas.
Those wise folk, the botanists, call our goblin tree by its odd Indian name of the "Yucca" palm.
THE YUCCA PALM.
This plant of the desert for a long time was considered valueless. But not long ago it was discovered that the fiber of the Yucca could be made into an excellent paper.[E] And now one of the great English dailies, the London Telegraph, is printed upon paper made from this goblin tree. Indeed, the Telegraph has purchased a large plantation in Arizona, merely for the purpose of cultivating this tree, and manufacturing paper from it. So, you see, the Yucca is now a newspaper plant.
ONE MORE LIVING BAROMETER.
Dear Jack: As you have told us so much about living barometers, I want to tell you that I have one. Mine is a red squirrel. Just before a "cold snap" she will be surly and sleepy. When she is angry, she will spread her lower teeth apart. She will play like a kitten. I call her Gipsy, and she is my chief pet.
Your constant reader,
M. M. M.
FOOTNOTES:
[E] For an article describing the manufacture of paper, see St. Nicholas for August, 1884, page 808.