Evening Republican, Volume 17, Number 161, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 8 July 1913 — RAIBING GOURDS FOR PIPER [ARTICLE]

RAIBING GOURDS FOR PIPER

Department of. Agriculture Trying to tftereet Farmers In Industry. Unde Bam la sanding; out a circular to show fseta sea haw they aaa raise gourds end make pipes tor smokers ad a profit. The gldffla do not grow aa rapidly as the gourds of ancient times, but it Is said they can be prodooad In almost any port of rht* country from seed that Is toppHod by the gov* emment, with the directions far planting and tor making pipes. to Booth Africa the gourd la callsd the oaJabaah. Doers mafia pipes of the gourds tor many yuan, but the woadd took little notice until after the Boer war, when the XtagDah began to import them. Later the demand spread to the United States, and now there is a large market tor the pipes at $8 to sl2 each, according to the drcmlar of the Department of Agricub taro. The Boers tiled to monopolize the seed of the gourd, but a large supply has been secured, and there is prospect that the crop will become general. It is asserted that the gourd pipes oolor like meerschaum and are highly appreciated by emofcara. As no two gourds are exactly alike, each smoker has a pipe of spade! pattern, and as the sizes vary so much the work of preparing them is done by hand instead of machinery.