March i, 1884.3 



THE TROPICAL AGRfCULTURIST. 



68y 



Sponge Oultitation has frequently been attempted, but 

 hitherto without success. There seems every reason to 

 beUeve, however, that the difficulty has been solved, and 

 that henceforth nothing can prevent its profitable culture. 

 An experiment has been made in the Gulf of Florida by 

 taking cuttings from the U\nug sponge. Tlirough each of 

 these a stick was thrust, and then stuck in the sand, the 

 entire process being conducted under the water. Most of 

 the cuttings stood the experiment, and one of them, 

 dredged up seven months afterwards, had grown to a bulk 

 of eight inches by seven, at it was perfect as a sponge 

 in every respect. There is no reason why " sponge beds " 

 ' should not be cultivated like " oyster beds," for the for 

 mer animals, like the rest of the protoza, are remark- 

 able for the amount of pulling about they will bear if 

 only they are not taken out of the water. — Australasian. 



Most rEACH-GEOwuRS are only too familiar with the 

 disease known as the "yellows," whereby the fruit is 

 mottled with red or orange-coloured spots, especially at 

 the pit end. The skin also is usually spotted. Both 

 are due to a fungus, whose structure is plainly visible 

 under the miscroscope, and Mr. AV. K. Higley, and Americ- 

 an botanist, has just puMished the results of special 

 researches on the subject. He says the mode of attack 

 is as follows : — A spore of the fuigus falls on some part 

 of the branch, and sends forth its myceUum thi-eads until 

 they ramify and fill the tissues, crowding back the flow of 

 sap to the parts beyond. This is only one, and usually 

 the first, stage of the disease. Mr. Higley thinks that 

 if the orchard is kept in a proper state of cultivation, 

 the trees will not contract the disease very readily, and 

 especially if they are occasionally manured with phosphate 

 of lime. Impoverished soil is almost sure to have the peach 

 trees grown upon it attacked in the above manner. The 

 disease has caused much havoc in the United States since 

 184-5 (up to which period it was confined to South Carol- 

 ina) by its rapid spread, and itseems that exhausted soils are 

 everywhere great encouragers to its development. — Austral- 

 asian. 



OmcoKV is not known to cultivators generally as a 

 vegetable, although in addition to its value as a cheap 

 adulteration of coifee it is known as a valuable forage 

 plant for sheep. A Belgian agricultural journal gives the 

 following with reference to its cultivation: — "A bed is 

 made in a Ught sandy soil, dry rather than damp, 4 ft. 

 or 5 ft. wide, and of a depth proportionate to the quantity 

 of chicory that it is desired to force. The surface of this 

 bed to the depth of 4 in. or 5 in. is thrown to either side, 

 and the subsoil tiu-ned over 9 in. or 1(J in. deep. The 

 chicory roots are pulled up, and the tops are cut off, leaving 

 only an inch above the roots. A cross trench is then made 

 in one end of the bed, and the roots are planted therein 

 upright, close together, so as to form a row 2 in. or 3 in. 

 wide. The soil is then banked up against this compact 

 row of plants, leaving only the leaves projecting. Another 

 row is planted from 2 in. to 4 in. distance from the former 

 and so on, until the whole bed is planted. All the sm'face 

 soil that was before taken off and thrown on either side 

 is then replaced, and, when it has somewhat settled and 

 sunk, 4 in. or 5 in. more of light rich earth is thrown 

 over, so as to cover the roots with about 9 in. of soil. 

 AVhen it is desired to bring chicory on, that end of the bed 

 which is taken first is covered with IS in. or 20 in. of fresh sta- 

 ble|manure,weU pressed down so as to heat. An equabletemp- 

 erature is maintained, either by adding more fresh manure, 

 or by employing a straw covering. The young shoots, white 

 and tender, soon force their way through the layer of earth 

 and may then be taken up for use from one end, but care- 

 fully, so as not to break them. Every twelve- or fifteen days 

 a fresh portion of the bed is heated, its size depending on 

 the consumption, and this goes on until the month of April, 

 when the plants sprout without forcing. They are cooked like 

 sea-kale — that is to say, boiled till tender, and served with 

 gravy or white sauce. The chicory is chiefly eaten with 

 fowl and white meats, and is especially recommended to 

 invalids and convalescents. In Brussels the plant, deprived 

 of refuse, is sold for about 2d. or 2id. per pound in January." 

 As a vegetable, it is said to be very agreeable to the palate 

 and highly nutritious ; it is also said to possess tonic 

 properties. It can be readily grown in Queensland, one 

 variety of it with yellow flowers being indigenous. The 



plant grown in Europe is an improvement on the common 

 chicorj — Cichorium inti/bus. — Qatendandnr. 



It is the turn of the American agriculturists to suiter 

 a scare from an imported insect which, if not as great as 

 that produced in Europe by the potato beetle, is as impor- 

 tant. A common European beetle, called Phytonomus 

 puuctatus, has made its appearance in then- clover-fields, 

 the leaves and flowers of which it destroys in great 

 quantities. — A ustrcUasian. 



Tea OuLTrvATioN in Amebica. — From experiments that 

 have been made in the cidtivation of the Tea plant in 

 North America, it seems scarcely to be expected to be- 

 come a profitable crop : not that the plants do not thrive, 

 but that the Tea itself, as prepared for the market, lacks 

 strength. It seems to have been in the latter part of 

 the year 1879 that the cultivation and manufacture _ of 

 Tea was taken up in earnest at Summerviile, in America, 

 by a thoroughly practical and competent person, who had 

 previously had considerable experience in the Tea plant- 

 ations m British India. The plants grew well, and in the 

 spring of 1880 the attempt at preparing or manufactm'ing 

 the Tea was considered encouraging. The make and ap- 

 pearance of the Tea were all that could be desired, but 

 it was found upon testing it that it was very deficient 

 in strength. This, it was thought, might be remedied by 

 special attention being given to the plants, and they were 

 consequently carefully pruned and manured, with a result 

 of a most satisfactory growth and fine crops of leaves. 

 Upon again being tested by experts, the Tea was found 

 equally deficient in strength, so that it is considered that 

 if Tea is to be grown in America the State of Florida 

 must be looked upon as presenting the most favourable 

 conditions. The United States Economist recommends its 

 cultivation as supplemental to other agricultural enter- 

 prises. '• Each farmer," it says, " may raise enough for 

 his domestic consumption, for ten or twelve trees will 

 furnish enough Tea to meet the wants of a family of 

 eight persons; the labour to cultivate a few Tea plants 

 would only absorb the odds and ends of a farmer's time, 

 which might otherwise go to waste." — Gardeners' Chronicle. 



By the use of the lysimeter, it is learned that soil 

 which is cultivated loses less moisture from evapor- 

 ation than that in sod, or that which is bare and un- 

 cultivated. This fact has been often asserted but has 

 not been proved. The leaching of water through the 

 soil is, however, greatest on the part that is cultivated. 

 — American Cultivator. 



If trees are pruned at any season the larger wounds 

 should be covered with gum shellac to exclude air. 

 Many a valuable tree is lost by neglect of this pre- 

 caution. Water gets into the wood, which begins to 

 rot beiore the bark can grow over. It is ihe same 

 as when mortification beings on a diseased or dis- 

 membered .limb in animals. — American Cultivator. 



New Source op Caoutchouc. — The attention of the 

 Indian Govemment has been drawn to a new plant 

 which is common in Southern IndiN, and yields abund- 

 ant supplies of pure caoutchouc. It is an apocyuace- 

 ons plant called Pramcra glanduliftra, the native hab- 

 itat of which appears to be the forests of Cochin China, 

 wheie the liquid juice is often used in medicine by 

 tlie Annamites and Cambodians. In China it is called 

 ttichun'f, and is a frequent ingredient in the Chinese 

 materia medica, in the shape of blackened fragments 

 of bark and small twigs. It is imported into that 

 country from Cochin China, the price of the bark 

 after being smoke-dried being about 20s. thepicul(133 lb.) 

 When broken, the twigs are seen to contain an abund- 

 ance of caoutchouc which can be drawn out inio threads 

 as in the East African Landolphias. The plant may 

 be propagated by cuttings, and M. Pierre, director of 

 the Botanic Gardens at Saigon, thinks that it may 

 be planted in forest reserves when the trees are not 

 less than 10 years old, and that an addition may be 

 made to Indian forestry of groat economic value, -<■ 

 London Times. 



