March i, 1884.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



619 



aud. amougst the mauy obiectionable mixtures they make, 

 is one calknl nappy, composed of rotten prawns, fish, and 

 shrimps, all mashed up together, and it smells, if possible, 

 worse than the lUirian. Elk, red-deer, pea and jungle fowl, 

 &c., are very plentiful, elephants, tigers, &c., being found 

 higher up. The only hill tribes we have.to deal with are 

 the Karens. They are very similar to the Burmaus, but 

 of better physique and more primitive. TTe would call 

 the attention of ladies at home who advocate divided sku-ts 

 to jackets <> la Karen. They are easily made. A- sack, 

 the dirtier the better, decorated with pieces of coloured 

 rag, should have three holes cut in it, one for the head 

 and two for the aims. The loms are covered, from the 

 waist downwards, with a "loongy." This is made of two 

 yards of variegated cloth, with the ends sewn together, and 

 forms a cool aud comfortable dress, and is worn by Euro- 

 peans iu place of pijamas. The women, when working, 

 discard their j.ickets, tymg the loongy over theu: breasts. 

 — Pioneers. — Field. 



— ♦ 



The PnvLLOXEii.v. — A very interesting communication 

 .:i^v lately re.ad before the French Academie dts Sciences 

 .jonceruing the imnmnity from phylloxera of aU vines planted 

 in sandy regions. The writers, Profe.ssors of Agriculture 

 at the Eeole d' Agriculture of Montpellier, point out that at 

 Aigiics-Mortes and iu the neighbouring sandy tracts the 

 \Tneyards have remained perfectly free from the pestilence, 

 and that in other plaet-s ottering similar conditions— Mirabel 

 in the Drome, for in.stance— recently planted vines are 

 forming a .source of wealth to the community. — Planters 

 Oiaette. [Then the appUcation of sand might kill the in- 

 sects?— Kr,."] 



Alt riFici.\L Coffee. — At the present low price of coffee it 

 would hardly seem the best time to bring out a new sub- 

 stitute, but a M. Sorraani, of Paiia, in the Ann. di Chim- 

 appl. tann. et 3feJ., announces that he has discovered <juite 

 a nevr and serious adulteration of coffee, which is being 

 practised by the manufacture of artificial berries. The.se 

 berries are composed of the meal of beans and acorns, 

 with chicory and some quartz powder to bring the mixture 

 to the requisite specific graWty. A dough is made of these 

 ingredients, which is cut by a special machine into the shape 

 of coffee berries, and after drying has exactly their colom'. 

 ~ Sorniani says he has found as 'much as 50 per cent of 

 these artificial berries mi,xed mtli the genuine. On roasting, 

 they take just the same colour as the genuine, but they 

 are discovered by soaking in water, when the false berries 

 soon fall to pieces. Paper coffee beans are now in large 

 demand in America. They are made out of vegetable pulp, 

 coloured brown, put into a mould, dried, and the odour 

 given by shaking them up mth ground coffee, after which 

 they are mi.xed with real beans. — Planters^ Gazette 



The Oausk of Dew. — If dew fell it would fall for the 

 same reason that rain falls; but dew does not fall. It 

 is simply a deposit of moisture always contained in the 

 air to a gi-eAter or less degree, and which, when there 

 is enough of it, will always form on any cold body ex- 

 posed to the moist air, in precisely the same way that 

 a cold bottle or stone, taken from a cold cellar aud suddenly 

 exposed in the shade to the moist, warm summer air, 

 will become wet. This is not sweating nor does this moist- 

 ure come out of the bottle or stone as many people 

 believe, but from the air. It is for the same reason that 

 moistm:e will condense agaiust the window-panes when 

 the air is cold outside aud moist inside, the moisture 

 slowly freezing while its deposits form crystal- ice which 

 we so often admire in winter. When the weather is 

 cool enough the moisture will even freeze plants and grass, 

 and then we call it hoar frost; if it does not freeze it 

 is simply dew. The only point left to be explained is why 

 does the gi'ound become so cool during the night, so much 

 cooler than the air above, as to cause the latter to de- 

 . posit its moisture. This was for many years a vexed 

 problem till Wells first suggested the radiation of obscui-e 

 heat, which takes place from the surface of the earth 

 throu;^h the clear atmosphere into the space above, and 

 so causes the surface to become much cooler than the 

 air itself. He .lemonstrated this by means of thermometers 

 'i'.:ced at different heights, aud also by the fabt that dew 

 i only deposited on cloudless nights. AVTien there are 

 clouds they reflect the heat or prevent it from escaping. 

 The suifaee of the earth thus being kept from coolmg, 

 no dew is deuosited. — -Farmer.s' Review. 



EXTEEPEISE IN PEKAK. 



The Slim clearings have been selected as investments, 

 with regard to soil, transport and general position. 

 They have been holed throughout with 18 inch .< 18 

 inch holes, most is drained and the first portion well - 

 roaded. They commence at 800 feet elevation above 

 sea-level, running to 1,100 feet Immediately behind 

 the last point the hills rise to 4,000 feet, distance 

 one-and-a-half miles Sixty acres (the lower portion) 

 are planted with Liberian coffee: the second portion, 

 fifty acres, is to be planted with Liberian coffee, 

 pepper, nutmegs and a small patch of Arabian coffee. 

 The rainfall fcr four years averages 99' 9- inches, and 

 the extreme fall for one month has been 17'61 inches, 

 October, 1882, the break of the East monsoon. Trans- 

 port is very cheap, by river, in boats of about three 

 tons size. Roads are being opened up through the 

 districts, aud a large planting concession of land i.s 

 on the point of being worked in Ceylon interests. 

 In the towns and inland centres of population labour 

 is plentiful, bat far up-country it is the only difficulty. 

 When the free imni'gration of Tamil coolies is finally 

 set'led, matters will go more smoothly. Permission 

 is given by the home Government for their free entry, 

 but an old Ordinance remains to be repealed by the 

 Indian Government. 



As to the tin-mining, that is indeed a speculation, 

 and it has yet to be proved whether or not Europ- 

 eans can profitably work tin with Cliina labour iu 

 what is, to all interests and purposes, a China colony. 

 The Chinese themselves make money, and at present 

 have the chief number of the mines iu their own hands. 

 A little tin is worked by Malays in a \ery feeble 

 maimer. On the whole, the climate is good, the shade 

 temperature at foot of the hills ranges from 64 to 90^ 

 Far., the latter not often felt. Game is plentiful and 

 tigers are common; but little sport can be got on 

 account of the jungle prevailing everywhere. The 

 snipe-shooting is very good indeed, where the country 

 is iu the least open, near the liver banks, and I 

 have seen patches of chena at mid-day crowded with 

 them, these patches are near the paddy-fields.— Perak, 

 October 2Sth. — Cor. Locvl "Times." 



TE.\, COFFEE AND CIN'CHONA ON THE KAREN 

 HILLS. 



The British Burma Oazelle contains an interesting 

 report from Mr. J. Petely on the cultivation of Tea, 

 Coffee and Cinchona on the Karen Hills, North-east 

 of Tounaoo, carried up to so late a date as the 12th 

 of September last. Regarding tea we are told that 

 "this |irodnee has not been increased Considerable 

 loss accurred since 188 1 .tm. ngst th« shrnbs set out, 

 owing to destruction by moles, crickets, and other 

 causes, as shounin former lej^orts, amongst both tea 

 aud coffee ; vacancies have been tilled up, and the total 

 quantity of shrubs at this date are about 23,000. About 

 half are yielding flushes, and the manufacture of good 

 tea continues as heretofore on a small scale. The 

 whole of them will probably yield next season." 



Thii report of S-pcember 1S81 on coffoe "showed 

 3,447 bearing trees. 1,620 Learly bearing, and seedlings 

 29,(338. These latter are coming on well, about one- 

 third bearing maiden crop ; in fact all up to two years' 

 growth, with a sprinkling mo'-e or less. About this 

 number has been kept up by filling in vacancies where 

 the youug plants have been killed by cri'--kfts. As 

 the bulk of them are past the stage of liability to 

 destruction from crickets now, a considerable inciease 

 of crop mav be looked forward to for next s-asou 

 (December 1884). The yield o( coffee iu 1882-83 was 

 4,2"01b. It should have been more, but for loss 

 from the attacks on the ripening crop by bird.i, civet 

 cats, find oUier destructive animals, -ample of season 

 1881-82, sent to the Lonrlun market, has beeu pronounced 

 really good berry and of fair market value. 



