662 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[March i, 1884. 



powder seems to possess little effect, but when mixed in 

 water, iu even small proportions. — an ounce to nine gallons 



it proves very fatal. Even when burned, the smoke or 



fumes given forth possess an influence, and some people 

 burn the powder in rooms to destroy mosquitoes, through 

 merely sprmkling it about will be as effectual and far more 

 effectual and lasting. In the United States it has been 

 necessary to pass laws compelling people owning insect- 

 infested orchards, &c., to take measures for cleansing them, 

 and these measures are found to be effectual. They use, 

 amongst other appliances, a small force-pump, with which 

 they force a spray of sti-ong lye over their trees before 

 they break into leaf, and when in leaf they use a weaker 

 solution of caustic soda with most successful results. For 

 Ourculia. they use sheets as before stated, as well as band- 

 a^es for these and codlin moth. The borers are attacked 

 mth a chisel and wire; the locusts (cicada) are attacked 

 with horse scoops and kerosine, and a constant aggressive 

 war is kept up with an innumerable host of enemies, which 

 would soon, if left alone, put a stop to agriculture and 

 horticulture in America — as they certainly will do here un- 

 less we get rid of the idea that we should do nothing else 

 but fold our hands and pray for deliverance from our 

 enemies. — Adelaide Observer. 



FLORIDA. 



The Governor of Florida estimates the settlei's in the 

 State at 20,000 a year, and the number is rapidly increas- 

 ing. Improved lands are now worth from §4 to §20 an 

 acre and unimproved from S2 to $4 per acre. But there 

 are lands adapted to oriinge culture valued at S300 an 

 acre. The State owns upwards of 10,000,000 acres of 

 land's, divided into school and seminary lands, internal 

 improvement, and swamp lands. There are also about 

 12,000,000 acres belonging to the general Government, 

 which are held at SI 25c. per acre. From the surveys 

 made bv General Gilmore and the Okechobee Land Com- 

 pany, it 'appears that Lake Okechobee has an elevation of 

 22 feet above the Gulf, and that Lake TahopeUga, the 

 head waters of the Kissimee, has an elevation of 65 feet, 

 so that there is every probability of the reclamation of 

 milUous of acres. The Governor considers that the in- 

 fluence of the great drainage scheme upon the future of 

 the State can scarcely be exaggerated. The lands are 

 some of the most valubable sugar lands in the Uniteil 

 States. The timber lands exceed 30.000.000 acres, three- 

 quarters of which is yellow pine, the best timber. The 

 pine is estimated to reach 7,000,000,000 feet, and. accord- 

 ing to the figures of the last census, during the year 

 which ended May 31, 1S81, no less than 208,054,000 had 

 been cut. Railway construction has added to the popul- 

 ation and wealth of Florida, and the enhancement in the 

 Land value is remarkable. The sea coast and many inland 

 towns owe their increiise to these railways, which cannot 

 be overdone in the south or fruit-growing portion of 

 Florida. Take the orange industry for example. An acre 

 in full bearing will produce 200,000 oranges, which, boxed, 

 will weigh 100,000 lb., or three car loads of 33,000 lb. each. 

 Cotton will not average iu the United States over a bale 

 to three acres, and a single car will carry off 50 bales 

 compressed, or the production of 150 acres. The conclusion 

 is consequently reached that 120,000 acres in oranges in 

 good hearing will require more cars to move them than 

 it would to move 6,000,000 bales of cotton, the produc- 

 tion of 18,000.000 acres. Orange growing is rapidly 

 increasing, but the lumber manufacturing business takes 

 the lead in Florida, which has, however, ra.aimfactories 

 of cigars, ice, and cassava. There are .also a few cotton 

 factories and a few cotton-seed oil mills, together mth 

 fibre factories to utiUze the palmetto plant. The financial 

 condition of the State is represented to be very good. 

 The assessment in 18S2 was about 546,000,000, and the 

 assessment for 18S3 shows an increase of about 510,000.000. 

 Four years ago the whole assessment was only 530.000,000. 

 The only asylum in the State is one for the insane at 

 Chattahoochee, where 110 patients are inider treatment. 

 The census showed IIU deaf mutes. Thre is no penitenti- 

 ary, the convicts being leased out to a private indi\nd. 

 ual,' who receives the prisoners at the country gaols, and 

 is required to pay all expenses after their conviction, 

 furnish them with proper food, clothing, &c., and pay the 



State 59,200 fos then- services during the next two years' 

 The number was 135, but the sentences for 1882 decreased 

 largely compared with those of the previous year. — London 

 Times. 



DURRA, DHURRA, OR RIOE CORN, &c. 



BY J. M. MCBRYDE, PEOFESSOE OP AOEICnLTnEE AND HOETI- 

 CULTURE, nNIVEESITY OP TENNESSEE. 



In Kansas and portions of Texas, a new cereal is re- 

 ported to be supplanting Indian Corn. It is also popular 

 in California, having been introduced there, so it is said, 

 from China. It is estimated that in Kansas 25,000 acres 

 were devoted to this crop in 1880, and the Fourth Quart- 

 erly Report of the Board of Agriculture of that State, 

 just published, puts the crop of 1881 at 520,534 bushels, 

 worth s314,78712. _ Its great merit, and one that makes 

 it invaluable for those regions, is its power of withstand- 

 ing prolonged drouths. It is perhaps as remarkable for 

 its multiplicity of names. In the West it is called indif- 

 ferently Egyptian Corn, Rice Corn, and Pampas Rice. It 

 is a native of the warmer portions of the Eastern Hemi- 

 sphere, and has been cultivated for ages in Central Asia, 

 and the NUe Regions of Africa under the Arabic name of 

 Dursh. "Webster gives no less than five different spellings 

 of this word, dhurra, dhura, dura, dhoora. and dom-a. It 

 is also written, by others, dhoura, dhouro, dourah, dora, 

 and durra. As if these were not enough, it has received, 

 besides the three mentioned above, the local names of 

 Negro Corn, Guinea Corn, Negro Guinea Corn, Chocolate 

 Corn, China Corn. Chicken Com, Ivory Wheat, Tennessee 

 Rice, Indian Millet, and Great Millet. 



Its scientific synonyms are almost as numerous. It is 

 Solcus saccharratum of Linn.'eus, Holcus sorr/hiim of other 

 early writers. Some botanists speak of it as Sorghum 

 cenimim. As " Sorghum " is a " Smith," and " \-nlgare " 

 a "John," of the vegetable kingdom, it is not saying much 

 for the identity of the plant to give it its true name, Sor- 

 t/hum vuU/are. The species breaks into numberless variet- 

 ies, the two most important bemg the white and the red. 

 The white, the kind mentioned in this article, is the great 

 bread crop of the Soudan and other regions of Central 

 Africa. English travellers famiUar with the Arabic always 

 speak of it as " Dhurra." It is frequently mentioned by 

 Baker in his works on the Nile and its tributaries. In 

 one of these, after describing the method of planting it 

 in the Soudan, he says: — "Although not .as palatable as 

 wheaten bread, the flour of dhmrra is exceedingly nutriti- 

 ous, containing, according to Prof. Johnston's analysis. 

 Hi per cent of gluten, or li per cent more than English 

 wheaten flour. Thus men and beasts thrive, especi-'Iy 

 horses, which acquire an excellent condition." It can hardly 

 be considered a new-comer in this section of coimtry, for 

 N. T. Sorsby, of Greene Co., Ala., writing to the U. S. 

 Commissioner of Agriculture nearly a third of a century 

 ago. makes the following statement in regard to " Indian 

 liiUet or Dourah Corn" (U. S. Patent Office Report, 

 Agricidtnral, 1S54, page 160") :— I first saw this plant grow- 

 ing in Georgia, in 1838. The year following I introduced 

 its culture into this County, where it has been somewhat 

 extensively cultivated since." He speaks of it in high 

 terms, and declares that it grows well on poor soils and in 

 spite of frost, rain, drouth, weeds, or grass. He regards 

 it as exceedingly valuable " for soiling cattle ami mules," 

 and also for fodder. He .says, "the ear- are eaten entire 

 by cattle and hogs." In view of its abundant yield of 

 "stalks, fodder, and grain," he considers it "one of the 

 most valuable of the cerealia," and as not exhaustive to 



the land. t., ^ „ 



Killebrew, iu his " Grasses, Cereals, and Forage 1 lants 

 (page 339), uses ahnost similar language, and goes on to 

 observe :—" Above 25 or 30 years ago it [Dhurra] could 

 be seen on the plantation of almost every farmer in the 

 State [Tonncsseej. It gave very gener.al satisfaction, and 

 yet it went out as suddenly as it came into popularity. 

 This was due to the cry that it impoverished the laud. 

 This verdict was accepted without question, and its culture 

 abandoned ; but it is manifest from subsequent experiments 

 that it detracts as little from the fertility of the soil as 

 any other cereal, much less than some." Numerous letters 

 of Kansas farmers, published in the Report of the Board 



