March i, 1884.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



6! 



THE CULTIVATION OF TKEE3 OF THE INDIA- 



EUBBER SPECIES. 

 A letter was received from Mi-. J. A. Robinson, and 

 read as follows, at a meeting of the Eoyal Agricultural 



' Society of British Guiana : — 



' Mount Street House, ■Wre.vham, North Wales. 



f .To the Secretary of the Roj'al Agricultural and Commercial 



[^ Society of British Uuiaua. 



7 _ Sm, — Some time ago 1 ventured to trouble you respect- 

 ing a prospect for cultivating trees of the Indiarubber 

 species — the chief feature — a most valuable one being the 

 propagation of these from adult stems — thus very materi- 

 ally hastening the period of yielding. 



The method is very simple, when known it is successful, 



' and it is known only to myself and auother. For reasons 

 given in my former letter, we are desirous if possible of 

 carrying out the prospect in British Guiana. My former 

 letter on the subject may not have come to your hands, 

 and I now beg to ask tbe favour of a reply from you 



. as to whether ic is likely either your Society, or any one 

 member of it, would take an interest in the undertaking ? 

 We ourselves know the jiracticability of the business, and 

 the great prospects it would afford is in the future, if 

 properly started, and are ready to throw ourselves into it 

 to the extent of our means, relying entirely upon results, 

 of wliich we are confident. 



We do not wish to lose another season — we wish to 

 estabhsh the business in a British Colony as a matter of 

 preference, ami as we are unacquainted personally with 

 anyone in the Colony, may I beg the great favour of a 

 reply, with, possibly— if you do not care to enter into the 

 ■matter in behalf oi the. Society— a list of names of the 

 members, as we should like to communicate %vith one or 

 more of them on the subject. They will, we jjresume, be 

 probably well acquainted with the trees and their pro- 

 duce, and it is only such gentlemen we would wish to 

 broach our scheme to. 



Apologising for the trouble we have given, I am, Su-, 

 yours faithfully, J. A. Robinson. 



The acting Secretary said he had made enquiries at Mr. 

 Campbell's house respecting the letter referred to by Mr. 

 Robinson, but there was nothing known of it. He sup- 

 posed it must have been mislaid. He had written to this 

 gentleman, stating that his letter would come before a 

 meeting to be held this month (the present one), and 

 that the matter would then be considered. He had also 

 forwarded to him a copy of Jlr. Jenman's communication 

 on Indiarubber trees of this colony, and a list of the 

 names of the Directors of the Society, in case he wished 

 to communicate with any of those gentlemen. The Chair- 

 man suggested that a copy of Mr. Kobmson's letter bo 

 referred to Mr. Jenman, which was agreed to. 



THE DAVARF PALJI AS A PAPER MATERIAL. 



Br J-\;.IES COLLINS. 



In a recent number of the Jov.nud (August I?th, 1883), 

 there is a short note on the above plant, and the follow- 

 ing is a slight account of it ; — 



The Dwarf Palm, Cluemerops hnmilie, of Linnffius, has 

 a great interest in geographical botany, as it marks the 

 northern limit in Europe of the natural orders of palms, 

 being found growing wild as far north as Nice, in iZ^ 

 44' north latitude. In the countries bordering on the Me- 

 diterranean Sea, it is very plentiful. In South Grenada 

 it grows up to an elevation of 2,000 feet above the level 

 of the sea, covering largo tracts and prevcutiug cultiv- 

 ation; also in Southern Europe generally, AN'estern A.sia, 

 and Northern Africa, covering waste and uncultivated 

 ground like our furze (Ulei: Evropav.s, Linn.), does in this 

 country. In Algiers it is a perfect weed, looked upon 

 even as a scourge, its deep and tough roots giving great 

 trouble to agriculturists; but then "a weed is but an 

 unutilised plant, or a plant in the wrong place." 



This palm is natm-ally of a dwarf habit, of three to 

 four feet high, with long creeping roots, from which spring 

 numerous suckers, forming dense tufts. If these suckers 

 be removed, the plant attains a height of from 20 to 30 

 feet. The leaves are fan-shaped, rigid, and furnished with 

 prickles. 



The palm is not without its uses. The Arabs use the 

 70 



fibres found at the base of the leaves, mixed with caun l'.- 

 hair in the fabrication of their tent covers, which arc 

 lasting and impervious to rain. The leaves are also used 

 largely in Southern Europe for the making of hats, brooms, 

 baskets, cordage, sails, and also for thatching pui-poses. 

 In France, as far back as 1854, the dressed fibres werr 

 used as a substitute for horsehair, being firm and elastic, 

 and also iu the manufacture of carpets, sailcloth, thread, 

 and paper, and known as African or vegetable hair. "WTien 

 freed from resin and properly dressed, although not so long 

 in staple, the fibre has been spoken off as much represent- 

 ing flax. - Of other species of Cktsmerops, there are about 

 a dozen cultivated iu European gardens. C. Fortuni, a 

 native of northern China, grows to a height of from 

 twelve to twenty fectj and its leaves are used in the 

 making hats, and in the manufacture of a kuid of coat 

 well suited for wet weather. C. Richiamt, very common 

 in iiighanistan, furnishes material for hats, fans, bru.shes, 

 sieves, sandals, pouches, ropes, &c. Its seeds are used as 

 bullets, or for rosaries, and its yomig leaves or "cab- 

 bage," form an article of food. 



The dwarf jjahn, therefore, seems to fulfil all the con- 

 ditions necessary for becoming a staple article of commerce. 

 It is plentiful, easily obtained, easily cultivated, if necess- 

 ary, aud if sent over in a semi-prepa. ed or half-stulf 

 condifion, the questiou of freight would not interfere nith 

 its utiUsation by paper manufacturers. — Journal of tlie 

 Society of Arts. 



HARVESTING CINCHONA BARK. 



There seems to be a pretty general fear that coppicing 

 may be such a severe shock to the tree that a targe per- 

 centage may die and fail to throw out suckers, but I 

 think this is very much exaggerated. The shaving process, 

 it is well known, causes a small percentage to die after 

 each shaving, but I very much doubt whether coppicing, 

 if properly carried out, is half as fatal to a number of 

 trees as the more fashionable process. There is no com- 

 parison between the cheapness of the two methods of har- 

 vesting, that is, if the shaved trees are carefully covered 

 ^vith mana grass or paper afterwards, for that operation 

 itself costs quite as much if not more than actual har- 

 vesting. Many a tree has been killed by careless shaving, 

 which, no matter how complete the superintendence, or 

 how eft'ective the instrument in the hand of the coolies, 

 is impossible to guard agaiust ; whereas coppicing gives a 

 large amount of bark at a very low rate per lb., aud Irom 

 the experience I have of this process, with very httle risk 

 of any great number of trees being killed by it. I know 

 of an estate where about 4-'50 sitccirubra trees, 7 years 

 old, were all cut down within a week of one another, as 

 soon as the gang of coolies could get round to them, and 

 but 3 per cent failed to again make a start and now bid 

 fair to be as large trees at C years old as the first stems 

 were at 7. Those that failed to live — fifteen in number- 

 were one and all of them trees that at the time of cop- 

 piciity had no sucker t/rowitu/. What should be done is 

 this : at least 18 months, if not more, before it is decided 

 to coppice, one or two suckers should be allowed to grow 

 right at the collar of the tree, and great care should be 

 taken that in no case those that do make a start should 

 be taken off by weeders, till one or two really healthy 

 suckers are started. With care, by the time it was decideii 

 to coppice the trees, a very large pe. centage of them 

 would have large healthy suckers growiD„', some only small 

 and a tew none at all. Auy deaths that occur after cop- 

 ])icing, I feel sure, would be amongst tlese latter, for it 

 must be a very violent shock to the tret to have its trunk 

 severed and be deprived of all its leave •. The trees that 

 have suckers on the other hand are net deprived of all 

 their leaves, and the shock to them is much less. They 

 (the suckers) grow very much quicker than plants, auil 

 the failures need not be greater than five per cent I feel 

 sure. The trees that I have shaved more than once, 

 often have a much larger percentage of deaths. Canker 

 attacks them, and being weakened they more easily suc- 

 cumb. It is almost impossible to keep an accurate account 

 of the number of trees shaved and the number that after- 

 wards die, and, again, how many of then- deaths can be 

 attributed to constant shaving or canker induced thereby. 

 But I can certify that the deaths from coppicing, if 



