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THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[April i, 1884, 



must laud tlie interest shown by the Governor at so early 

 a stage of the affair. Nor was the loader of the culture 

 wantiuy in zeal and activity. Thousands of slips were 

 planted — a method of propagation, which when seed is 

 wanting, answers very well, but which under Junghuhu's 

 treatment did not always succeed satisfactorily. Professor 

 Oudemans pretends that he took his slips too long, instead 

 of as small as possible, i.e., a little larger than the bud.* 

 Mclvor in British India had learnt this as early as 1801, 

 l>ut then he was a nurseryman by profession. 



Fortunately for Junghuhn, one tree came into bloom in 

 1858, which also produced seed, by which a quicker ex- 

 tension could be given to the culture, than had been 

 hitherto possible. Thousands of seeds were theu directly 

 deposited for germination. But the seed was not of the 

 best sort. At first it was taken for Cinchona Onita, or 

 (,'. lucttmaefolia, but when the new plants blossomed and 

 made fruit, they were pronounced by Howard, a cinchono- 

 logist at London, to be quite a new and unknown species, 

 which on Junghuhn's suggestion received the name of Cin- 

 chot)a Fahudianu. 



This sort, so intimately connected with the founder of the 

 Netherland Indian Culture, was henceforth considered as a 

 paragon, the tree of the future par cvcellence. It grew 

 rapidly, blo.ssomed and made seed ; even the spiky shoot- 

 ing uj) was called a virtue. Though the stems remained 

 miseraljly thin, and the bark not thicker than paper, all 

 this would come to rights in time, for, as it was, the root- 

 bark at a very tender age showed already a large propor- 

 tiom of (piinine — the quiutessence — and more than had been 

 met with in any other sort. 



To the propagation of this species almost all exertions 

 were expended, so that the number of plants in the open 

 groimd soon amounted to more than a miUion. On the 

 other hand, the other sorts — among which were some very 

 good ones, if not the best — only increased by hundreds 

 and numbered scarcely 10,000 on the whole. The reason 

 of this was in the first place that they produced no seed, 

 antl had therefore to be reared from slips, which under the 

 shade of very tall trees, as Junghuhn was used to do, very 

 often miscarried. Hence perhaps his preference is to be 

 explained for the sort which conformed so easily to his 

 notions, and in which he was not a httle strengthened by 

 the relatively favourable results of the chemical analyses of 

 the Inspector charged with the chemical tests, Dr. J. E. De 

 Vrij. I call these results relatively favourable, because the 

 presence of quinine in the stem-bark was not proved, but 

 supposed ; it was the root-bark that contained almost 2 p. Ct. 

 {To he continued.) 



OoLA Nuts. — Tlie trade in cola nuts is an attractive 

 feature in the commerce ^ the Gambia. The cola nut 

 is the product of the Sierra Leone district, and the trade 

 in it, both at Sierra Leone and the Gambia, is almost 

 entirely in the hands of women, to a large number of 

 whom it affords the means of livelihood, and in many 

 instances the acquisition of considerable wealth. The nut 

 is largely consumed by natives of the Gambia ; it is of 

 a bitter taste, and produces no exhilarating effect, but 

 is said to possess the power of satisfying for a consider- 

 able time the cravings of hunger. For this purpose, 

 however, it is much less used than it is as a luxury. The 

 liritish trade in the article is rapidly increasing. 

 In the year 1860 the import into Great Britain was 

 about 1.50,000 lb.; 1870, 416,000 lb.; 1879, 743,000 lb. 

 The trade in cola nuts has also spread to Central Africa, 

 and even to the Afi-ican shores of the Mediterranean. 

 The plant has been introduced to the West Indies, 

 Seychelles, Calcutta, Ceylon, Dominica, Demerara, Maur- 

 itius, Sydney, and Zanzibar, from the Kew Gardens. — Oil 

 and iJriifi News. 



Professok Asa Gray says, in a private note quoted 

 by Home Farm: — "Plants on the whole liberate to the 

 air vastly more oxygen than they take away ; and as to 

 the last, an infant or a night light in a room uses up 

 ever .so much more oxygen and gives out ever so mnch 

 more carbonic acid than wovdd a room full of plants." — 

 Queen^lander. 



* Oudt'uian's Ilaudbttek der pharmacogn. 1SS2 2iid Ed. 



Okdab Op Lebanon. — Few trees, and certainly no other 

 conifer, form singly such a magnificent featm-e in the 

 landscape as the cedar of Lebanon ; but it seems to have 

 been considerably neglected by the planter in recent 

 times, as comparatively few are to be observed in the 

 plantations and ornamental grounds formed within the 

 past 30 or 40 years. This may be partially attributed 

 to the great influx of exotic conifers of an ornamental 

 character which has taken place during that period, and 

 partly to the slow progress made by the cedar in its 

 early stages. When once it is fairly established in its 

 permanent site, which it often takes 10 or 1.5 years to 

 accomplish, it grows with great vigour, and often reaches 

 a large size before it is a century old, especially if planted ' 

 in a good soil and sheltered situation. It thrives best in 

 a deep I'ich loam, and an open or well-drained subsoil ; 

 hut it is by no means fastidious, and it will thrive in 

 almost any soil which is neither stiff clay nor waterloggged. 

 Planted as a forest tree the cedar makes a straight 

 clean stem, towering to a height of SO ft. or more, and 

 having much resemblance in the bark and bole to a' 

 gigantic larch crowned with .an evergreen top. Such a 

 grand tree deserves to be mnch more extensively planted 

 than ever it has been in this country, and planters will 

 do well to bear it in mind when arranging for future 

 operation. — Jourmd of Forestiy. ^ 



^YHITE Ants. — Having been several times asked about 

 a cure for these, found very successful here, it occurs 

 to me that it might be useful to make it more generally 

 known through your paper. The substance employed is 

 Yellow Arsenic, Hartal, which is sold for 12 annas a seer 

 in the bazar. Pound it very fine on a stone, and mix 

 it as for colour-washing rooms (the Chancel of the Church 

 and Apse of the Mission Chapel here are coloured with 

 it, a very bright yellow) with water — 3 seers of Hartal 

 will suffice for a large jar (Nand) full of water. Apply 

 freely with a brush to wood work or the surface of floors, 

 or mix nj) with the mortar which masons are using in 

 fresh work, or paint mats or carpeting, or the bottoms 

 of boxes with it. It has been found, after a trial of quite 

 6 years, a perfect citte. The ants cannot " abide " it ; 

 indeed this house which used to be called 'Ant Hill 

 Lodge' is now almost entrirely free from them, though 

 built a good many years ago and of inferior materials. 

 Its smell is not very plesant for the first 3 or 4 days 

 when extensively applied, but it passes off entirely, very 

 unlike in this and other unpleasant respects the custom- 

 ary remedy, pitch. I have slept in a room a few days 

 after its liberal .application without unpleasant cou- 

 sequence.s.^Cor, of Indian Churchman. 



■White Ants in Austrjvlia. — The white ant pref rs 

 the soundest of timber. The white box, the strongest 

 timber native to Victoria, is its mo.st fancied hf)me. Few 

 of the larger white boS trees in the forest but what are 

 eaten at the heart by this minute enemy, though extern- 

 ally they may look sound enough. Should a storm of 

 wind break a branch, however small, that is sufficient for 

 a swarm of white ants to make a lodgment, and from 

 that time the tree is doomed. AYhere timber houses are 

 built on studs the white ants are certain to attack it; 

 where a stone foundation is laid they seldom attack the 

 house. Post-and-rail fences, barns, huts, the stoutest 

 timber of all descriptions, nothing is safe from them. 

 There is but one effectual way to protect timber from 

 their .attacks, and that is to dress it with keros'Mie, after 

 which they will not touch it. Some time ago Mr. Henley 

 found that a strong pillar of white-box, which supported 

 the floor of the hop-kiln, was attacked by white ants. 

 The cracks in which they had gained entrance were 

 scraped out, but without succeeding ii^ dislodging tbeni. 

 Having experienced the value of kerosene in presernng 

 wooil from the white ant, Mr. Henley determined to 

 employ it on this occasion. He cut through the floor 

 above, and bored a hole with an auger into the head of 

 the post, into which he poured a small quantify of 

 kerosene. The oil penetrated every fibre of the wood, 

 and the white ants at once effected a rapid retreat, and 

 were seen no more. In .all the timber in liis house, 

 and in the permanent builduigs on the farm, evtjry piece 

 of timber is now carefully dressed with kerosene before 

 it is used. — Avstrcdasian. 



