39 



•decreases in tlie diameter of its stem from the bottom upwards, and if 

 when this is seen to be the case manure or other nutriment is applied, 

 the diameter of the stem will again become enlarged. 



In some instances where plants of this kind of palm are sown 

 naturally in thick bush, the seeds having been carried by birds or 

 animals, the base of the stem will usually be small, as the plant in its 

 youthful stages suffers from too much shade, from the effects of 

 drought and from the abstraction of nutriment by other plants. 

 When, however, it has grown above the surrounding bush and has 

 well established itself, we see that the size of the stem increases, and 

 afterwards, as the nutriment is exhausted, the size again gradually 

 decreases, the trunk assuming a spindle-sbaped appearance. This is 

 also a well marked occurrence in another "West Indian Palm known as 

 Acrocomia sclerocarpa, Mart., and descriptive characters have been 

 founded upon it which are of little value. 



The " Cabbage" of Oreodoxa regia is an excellent vegetable when 

 cooked. It may be eaten fresh as a salad, and it also forms one of the 

 principal materials for making some of the best brands of West Indian 

 "' hot pickles." 



112. -A SUNSHINE RECORDER. 



Temperature in the tropics depends in a great measure upon the 

 number of hours the sun shines daily. The importance of sunshine 

 to planters is evident, and the degree of open sunshine experienced 

 during the year is intimately connected with that of rainfall and tem- 

 perature, which together go to form what is generally termed " the 

 weather." 



The importance of keeping a record of the duration of sunshine is 

 seen when it is shewn that it enables the planters to estimate the 

 causes of success and failure in the various cultivations, and I quote 

 from the Eeport of Messrs. Jenman and Harrison of British Guiana on 

 Agricultural Work for 1892-3, that our readers may see what estimate 

 is placed upon such record by these well-known observers : 



" Sunshine. — Next to Rainfall, or rather co-paramount with it, as success iii 

 agriculture and vegetable culture generally depouds on the approximately near 

 balancing of both — is the degree of open sunshine experienced in the year. Sun- 

 shine is never in excess providing it is accompanied liy sufficient rain. Were it 

 to rain only at night, of which we have experience in some seasons here, the sun 

 might shine all day long throughout the year with advantage to crops. It is 

 only in the final maturing processes during which the essential characteristic 

 chemical changes take place, that an excess of sunshine over moisture is required." 



