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THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[April 1, 1884. 



paper mill could not be run to pay liandsomely, there 

 being every facility at hand for doing so. Water is 

 pleutiful in every locality, aud we ebould never have 

 to ehut down because of ice. Wood for fuel, linie, 

 and all other materials are to be had in abundance. 

 Besides this, labor is cheap. 



The experts who have examined the samples of raw 

 materinls have pronounced them to be of first quality; 

 and if you can bring these remarks to the notice of 

 the paper trade, and induce parties interested to visit 

 this islaud and see for themselves, you will be doing 

 a double Sfrvico to the trade generally as well as to 

 this beautiful island, the resources of which are so 

 little known at present. 



You can with every confidence assure your country- 

 men who have any dread of the climate that there 

 is no more salubrious climate in the world than that 

 which Jamaica possesses. I send you a paper in cor- 

 roboration of ihese 8tatements,coniaining the expressions 

 of our late Governor, Major-General Gamble. They 

 will speak more than I could say. 



In conclusion, I beg to sny that I shall be glad 

 to furai'h any information on this suhjeci, that you 

 or any of your readers may reejuire, as one who is 

 indirectly interested in the paper trade and the future 

 of Jamaica. — W. ,Cabessa. Janiaica,W. I., Jan. let, 1884. 

 — Paper Tradt Jourtutl. 



A KEW RUBBEK-PRODUCIKG PLANT, pru'iiiwia glaiiduU- 

 /era, has been brought forward in ludia. It is com- 

 mon in Southern India and Cochin China, aud yields 

 abundant supplies of pure caoutchouc. The liquid 

 juice is often employed in medicine by Aunamites aud 

 Cambodians. — Paper Printing and Trades Journal. 



A CoLoP.ADO paper says that Pueblo is soon to have 

 a ijaper and textile mill for utilizing the " sonp weed " 

 plant that grows so abundautly in the southern part 

 of the State. This mill is the result of experiments 

 made three years ago, when large quantities of the weed 

 were sent to Hadley,Ma83., to teatits adaptability. — Ihkl. 



ALi'i c;ka.ss is a natural production, of a. hich numer- 

 ous articles are made such as cordage, mats, carpi-ts, 

 paper, tubs, railway wheels, aud a number of other 

 articles. Alfa is found in Norih Africa growing at an 

 elevation of 300 or 400 metres in Algier.--, Tunis, Jlorocco 

 and elsewhere. Formerly it was also found in Spain, 

 but now the culture is cegltcted there. Alfa grows 

 luxuriantly without cultivation, requiring three years 

 to grow to maturity. The plant grows to a height of 

 about half a metre, and one or one-and-a-half metres 

 thick. It is not cut down, but pulled up out of the 

 ground by the stalks. — Ibid. 



Ukcct AiiEEiCAX TmBEK. — The rapid growth of 

 paper-making from wood pu;p has caused enquiries as 

 to the stock available for the purpose. It is found that 

 according to the forestry bulletins there were but obout 

 82,000,000,000 feet of mercantile white pine standing in 

 18S0 in the lumber .«tates of ilichigan, Wisconsin, and 

 Minnesota, and only about 85,000,000,000 long-leaf piue 

 in Florida, Georgi.!, ai:d the Carolinas. But the estim- 

 ate oF long and short leaf in Alabama, Mississippi, 

 Louisiana, and Arkansas, was above 134,000,000,000 

 feet, and this reserve has scarcely been touched yet. 

 Louisiaua alone has 48,000,000,000 feet standing. — Ibid. 



A PATKM lias been issued for the tnanufacture of 

 paper from common grass. The inventor claims that 

 he can work up into pajjer the grass grown in fields, 

 meadows, and laM-ns, and from the green grass pulp 

 produce a paper remarkable for strength im( arted by 

 its length of fibre, tenacity and Uexibility. He claims 

 that tlic new grass paper \\\\\ be softer and more trans- 

 parent than that made fniii linen stock ; it is to be 

 cheap, as well as strong, aud of superior quality. An 

 acre of ground, the inventor tells us, \\ill produce 

 from 30,40:! to 00,340 pounds of green graes. One 

 poiLud of giecu griUB makes oce-fourth to one-sixth of 



a pound of fine, bleached, finished jiaper, or 3,711 

 pounds of superior marketable paper to the acre. — Hid. 



The " DwAKF Palm " of Algeria, which is a nuis- 

 ance to agriculturists in that country, is being experi- 

 mented upon by a Fi-ench manufacturer as a paper- 

 making material. The substance is said to answer 

 well, and even to possess unique advantages. Another 

 plant is suggested in the " Giant Cactus of the Mohave 

 Desert," or Nucca Draconis, vhich makes paper of a 

 very good quality. It grows luxuriantly in California 

 — an out-of-the-way source of supply, much against 

 its adoption in manufacture. It is asserted, however, 

 that it would flourish well in India, aud the sugges- 

 tion is thrown out that the plant should be introduced 

 to some of the sandy wastes of that peninsula, where 

 it might take root .nnd ultimately prove an export- 

 able product. The Nucca, it ia said, yields double 

 the per centage of fibre to that of esparto.- Jbid. 



SujLAC IN America. — One of our neglected or ignored 

 industries is the culture and preparation of sumac ae 

 a material for tanning and dyeing. It ie admitted by 

 experts that American sumac is quite as valuable for 

 these purposes as the foreign article, which sells for 

 nearly twice its value, aud that the diflerence is 

 merely in the preparation of it. Sumac is a very widely 

 distributed and abundant shrub, and is gathered and 

 prepared for market at a respectable profit, even at its 

 present inferior price. Ab an indication of the quantity 

 gathered in some localities, we read of a sumac mill in 

 Virginia which was recently burned, but the owner 

 congratulates himself that he has 3S0 tone of leaf still 

 left ready for grinding. Aa it is a light substance and 

 is wholly gathered by negroes, this seems a respectable 

 quantity as the stock of one mill. How much more 

 profitable it might be, however, if the gal hering of the 

 sumac could be done by more intelligent people, who 

 would know the right season and conditions for gather- 

 ing it. — New i'orh Times. 



FoBR-lLOWEKS Tea. — The virtues of simple remedies, 

 long obscured by the claims of more pretentious drugs, 

 are again beginning to attract some degree of public 

 favour. Amongst them is an ancient nostrum much 

 commended by antique authorities of the less learned 

 kind, aud still believed in by many of the village 

 housewives, and perhaps a few village doctors. This 

 is four-Uowers tea, a potion or "tisane" which is 

 given for the alleviation, at least, if not the curing, 

 of colds, and which a more or less eminent French 

 doctor, well-known in literature, is bold enough to 

 honour with hia praises. It is made, as its name im- 

 plies, of an infusion of four very simple wild flowers — 

 poppy, wild mallow, cows' luug-wort, and violet. The 

 properties of each of these plants or herbs ai-e, of 

 course, different, but they are said to mix together 

 so kiudly that the potency of each is improved by 

 amalgamation with the others. The virtues of the 

 poppy are those for which it is so celebrated by the 

 classic writers, its somnoleut and calming efl'ects. The 

 mallow is said to be rich in mucilaginous juices, which 

 soothe the bronchial tubes. Although the critics of 

 antiquity are not so universally eloquent as to the 

 merits of this plant, Pythagoras at least gave it all 

 its due, aud perhaps mora, by maintaining tliat it 

 was good for moderating the passions. The cows' 

 lung- wort, which is also called by various other names, 

 and amongst them " high taper " in Knglish, and "our 

 lady's taper " in French, ia declared to produce an 

 oil having anti-Epasmodio properties, aud thus to bo 

 most useiul in allaying the irritations of the throat. 

 Finally, the violet is credited with much virtue as a 

 sudorific, aud, when it cannot bo obtained, the pansy 

 is substituted for it. The tea is made by taking the 

 petals only and not the calix of the flowers, and steep, 

 ing thrm iu hot water, which must afterwards be 



flavoured with syrup of Tolu, aud taken very hot. 



London Times. 



