PIPE-STICKS It is usual to call the wooden tubes used for some tobacco-pipes by this name; and unimportant as it may at first sight appear what the tube is made of, there is great difference of taste in this respect; and great care is taken by somesmokers to get what they consider the choicest material. Perhaps the most prized are the agriot or cherry pipe-sticks of Austria. These are the young stems of the mahaleb cherry ICUS mahateb), which is extensively grown for the purpose in the environs of Vienna. An astonishing amount of care is bestowed on the cultivation of these shrubs, which are all raised from seed. When the seedlings are two years old, they are each planted in a small pot, and as they continue to grow, every attempt at branching is stopped by remov ing the bud. As they increase iu size from year to year, they are shifted to larger puts or boxes, and great cure is taken to turn them round almost daily, so that every part is equally exposed to the sou. When they have attained a sufficient height, they are allowed to form a small bushy head, and continue to receive the same attention in daily turning, etc., until they are thick enough in the stem. They are then taken up, and the
roots and branches removed, and the stem put by to season. Afterwards, they are bored through and are ready for use. These pipe-sticks have an agreeable odor, and are covered with a reddish-brown bark, which is retained. Sometimes they are 5 ft. in length, and as smooth and straight as if turned. When of such a length, they command high prices. In Hungary, pipe-sticks made from the stems of the mock orange (Mita delphas coroaariu8) are much used; and the jessaudue sticks of Turkey are in great esteem in all countries. Orange and lemon trees and ebony are also used. The chief recom mendation of these materials seems to be in the poWer of the wood to absorb the oil pro duced in smoking tobacco, and consequently to render the smoke less acrid. See TOBACCO-PIPES.