656 



THE TEOPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[March i, 1884. 



pale yellow kinds. Trusting a new industry may yet 

 spring up in Ceylon, I am, yours truly, 



SACCHAROMETER. 



[At present the market is swamped by beet and boun- 

 ties. In Ceylon !i great deal ot palm sugar is made from 

 the juice of the kitui, palmyra, coconut, &c. — Ed.] 



HOW TO GERMINATE NUTMEG SEEDS. 

 13th February 1883. 



Dear Sib, — Will you kindly allow nie to suggest 

 to your correspondent "Anti-Humbug" the necess- 

 ity of having bis seed nutmegs sent to him with the 

 rind on them. 



Let him remove the rind and also the mace, but, 

 in removing the latter, he must take the precaution oi 

 cutting it off with a pair of small scissors in such 

 a manner as to leave a portion adhering to the nutmeg 

 at ils point of attachment, about the size ot a two- 

 annapiece. 



In planting, the nuts should be laid ou their side, 

 for, like the jak seed, they put out a stud-like 

 projection, and from this stud proceeds the stem 

 and radicle, one up, t' other down of course. — Yours 

 truly, TRY AGAIN. 



ANATTO (BIX A ORELLANA) A PAYING 



CULTIVATION IN CEYXON. 



Dear Sir, — I have seep the name of this plant 

 spelt in descriptive books in several ways : anatto, 

 arnatto, arnotto and onotto. The most common aud 

 con-ect way jirobably is anatto, and this form of 

 spelling it should, I think, be adhered to in future. 

 Full details, as you say. have been published in your 

 columns about the plant, but further information, 

 particularly as regards its experimental cultivation 

 ending in success in Ceylon, -will it is supposed to 

 acceptable to you and the public. The plant is com- 

 mon in Kalutara, aud I have seen it bear fruit equally 

 ■well at an elevation of 3,000 feet. It will be, there- 

 fore, worth a trial at much higher elevations, for 

 then such land, as are unsuited for chinchona and 

 other products might be utilized, as all soils save 

 swamps seem to suit. The plant is supposed to have 

 been introduced by the Dutch along with cocoa, per- 

 haps, as a necessary ai'ticle for the preparation of 

 " chocolate " as made by tlie Spaniards in South 

 America. It gives chocolate a peculiar color and 

 also imparts a certain flavor. It certainly was gi'own 

 plentifully in Moon's time (1829) and was used then 

 as it is now by the famed Kalutara basket-malsers 

 for dyeing. There can be no doubt that "it is an 

 elegant coloring substance." The natives use it largely 

 in obtaining different shades of red, orange, yellow, 

 (Sic , by mixing it with other coloring substances. 

 Besides, the substance has the property of indelibly 

 fixing its own or altered colors on any article it is 

 applied to, and has tlierefore an additional value be- 

 yond its mere color. That its chief use is " to dye 

 butter aud cheese " is a mistake. It is used for this 

 purpose, but it is also used largely for dyeing silks, 

 cloth aud leatlicr, aud confections and in the painting 

 of toys, and much in the same way as the natives 

 do, to give different shades to other colors. The 

 demand for it in the Kuropean market has never 

 slackened, and is increasing. Statutory enactments 

 in Belgium, Holland and Sweden prohibit the use of 

 coloring substances obtained from metals aud minerals 

 (mostly poisonous) in the dyeing aud coloring of wear- 

 ing apparel, wall papers, toys, confections, etc , and 

 there is every probability of similar acts being in- 

 troduced into Britain a^d I'rance. There is a de- 

 mand for the article in Australia too, as not long 

 ago a Mr, de Riuzy made special inquiries for the 



seed (not for cake or flag anatto), being prepared to 

 buy it largely. I believe he made Messrs. Uarley, 

 Butler &_Co., his agents, to purchase any offered for 

 sale. This is a plant which deserves the attention 

 of natives and tliose who are contented with a rea- 

 sonable profit. It is a hardy plant requiring very 

 little expenditure in planting out and in the upkeep. 

 It grows in poor soil, yields a quick return and 

 requires no trouble in preparing the produce for the 

 market. A measure of seed costing a few rupees will 

 give about 10,000 plants. In four months, the plant 

 wUl be fit for putting out. In the lowcouutry in 18 

 months the first crop can be gathered in. The 

 plants can be planted from six to ten feet apart ac- 

 cording to the nature of the soil. There are two kinds 

 of plants in Ceylon : tlie common plant with the apple- 

 like blossom and having hairy pods, spearhead shape 

 and dull red in color : the other plant is sunilar in 

 appearance but with snowy white flowers, pods 

 spherical in shape and of a green color with a tinge 

 yellow when ripe. The seed containing the dye Is 

 of a slightly lighter color and is preferred to imjiart 

 a deeper tint to yellow. 



Anyone wishuig to see specimens of the former 

 kind can do so by visiting the Circular Walk, where, 

 at the suggestion of Mr. Wright, some are grown for 

 the sake of their flowers. INfr. Advocate Cooke of 

 Kandy has some growing remarkably well on hia 

 clearing facing his residence, and with his permission, 

 I have no doubt, they can be inspected by anyone 

 wishing to try the cultivation of the plant. 



The anatto cake and roll anatto sell in the European 

 market, but at present it is not necessary to extrace 

 the dye here. It is not an advantage as the price 

 in England of the imported cake and fla_L,' is only 

 about Is 3d a lb. and it takes more than 10 lb. of 

 seed to make a lb. of the cake. The fact is the 

 rough method in use in South America does not re- 

 sult in a satisfactory article being turned out, and the 

 price is out of proportion to tha value of the dye 

 stuff in the seed, rendered inferior, in fact spoilt, by 

 their rude process of fermenting, boiling, &c. The 

 best anatto (seed) fetches in bulk 4^d a lb. in London, 

 aud near that price has been obtained for small 

 shipments from Ceylon. There are trees in Kalutara 

 said to be Ui years old. They are about 14 feet in 

 height with trunks about a foot in gu'th a foot from 

 the ground. As in other products, Ceylon will yet 

 top the market, if proper care in the picking, sorting, 

 &c., is used. The first crop will give 5 cwt. an 

 acre of the seed (thou!;h more has been got from an 

 experimental clearing), and the yield is likely to in- 

 crease up to 10 cwt. the acre. Neither cinnamon 

 nor coconut properties have for some time past given 

 or arc ever likely to yield profits which anatto pro- 

 mises to yield. It is a jiity to see the determin- 

 atiou with which the natives are continuing the 

 gi'OH'th of cinnamon notwithstanding the fall in price 

 for some years back of this article. If the Govern- 

 ment will use proper measures to induce the natives 

 to try this casy-gruwing product, it will soon give 

 relief to them as well as prove beneficial to the 

 island and the Government. 



W. PROWETT FERDINANDS. 



ALKALOIDAf. VALUE OF CINCHONA BARKS. 

 Colombo, 20th Feb. 1SS4. 



Dear Sir. — X correspondent in your issue of the 

 19th says : — '■ 1 sold some autumn bark on analysis 

 (1 47 per cent sulphate of quinine) in Colomlio, four 

 months ago, and bark from the same place and three 

 months older was said to contain only "35 per cent 

 sulpliato of (juininc wlieu sent down last month." 



These results are certainly very remarkable if the 

 bark in both cases was from trees of the same species, 



