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THE TROPICAL AGRICUI.TURIST. 



[Aprjl I, 1884. 



The Boers grew impatient and sent word to say that if 

 the local authorities could not arive at a speedy decision 

 they (the lioers) would "trek" farther north, and inter- 

 view the King of Portugal himself. However, consent was 

 at length given, and the Boers were assigned territories 

 at Humpata, a district in the vicinity of the Ohella mount- 

 ains. Thither they proceeded, and have since settled down, 

 and find little to grumble at in the indulgent rule of 

 Portugal. Their lands form one of the finest corn-growing 

 districts in all Africa. There is abundance of running 

 limpid water, a rich soil, and a perfect climate. The great 

 elevation of the Humpata plateau above the sea produces 

 a European temperature, and the thermometer is frequently 

 at freezing point before dawn. Here some si.xty famiUes 

 of Boers have settled down to corn-growing and cattle- 

 rearing, hoping to dispose of their agricultural produce 

 in the markets of Angola. From Humpata to the Ouneu6 

 is a distance of about 200 miles, traversed by a waggon- 

 road, and dotted at rare intervals with Portuguese forts 

 and garrisons. There is a Government postal service along 

 this route once a month, and it is everywhere safe travelling 

 except, perhaps, for the abundance of lions that at certain 

 times infest it. The game is wonderfully abundant and 

 varied in character. Cxreat herds of giratfes, elands, 

 zebras, and antelopes may be encountered, together with 

 occasional elephants, rhinoceroses, and buffaloes. In fact 

 it is one of the finest sporting countries in the world. 

 — Journal of the Society of Art/. 



BiFACTAL Or.\nges. — In the Prorence Aijrkole M. 

 Heckel tolls us how the fruits which on one side present 

 the characteristics of oranges, and on the other those of 

 lemons, are produced. A nurseryman at Oannes, M. 

 Tordo, takes scions (hourr/eons) of various species of citrus, 

 orange, lemon, &c., and grafts them circularly around 

 the trunk of a citrus, arranging the scions closely to- 

 gether in pairs so to bring about complete fusion of the 

 scions. When the grafts have adhered the tree is headed 

 down to within a short distance of the grafts, and in 

 spring branches are seen which give rise to monstrous 

 fruits, having the characteristics of ^.he different grafts 

 blended together. The branches which originate from the 

 ingrafted shoots produce leaves which are grc.itly changed 

 in form and differ from those of either species, thus 

 affording a striking proof of graft-hybridi,satiou. The 

 flowers of the two species are also fused. — Australasian. 



PE.\CTiCAr. Knowledge. — The more we see of farming 

 the more are we struck with the importance of practical 

 knowledge. The difference between practical and theo- 

 retical knowli'dge appears to be this — that practical 

 knowledge enables its possessor to deal with special 

 difticulties as thoy arise in the simplest manner, and 

 with the least ])Ossible confusion to other departments of 

 his business. Theoretical knowledge by itself is apt to 

 cause a man to treat special difficulties by applying to 

 them general principles, which, however true in themselves, 

 may possibly derange his other plans. "Without practical 

 knowledge, it is very difficult to apply our theories. It 

 is of little use to know how sheep ought to be fed if 

 the master has not a keen perception as to whether his 

 sheep are going the right way or the wrong. He may 

 have rules at Iris fingers' ends as to the proper stage at 

 which to cut grass, cart hay, reap and harvest wheat or 

 barley, sell bullocks, roll l^nd, &c. The question which 

 tests his practical knowledge is, however, alway.s, " Is 

 this grass, or hay, or wheat, or barley, or bullock fit ? " 

 Such knowledge can only be gained by long-continued 

 and constant observation, and it is soon lost from want 

 of practice. Young men should especially cultivate it, 

 and never thiidc time wasted that is spent in working 

 among live stock and ci-ops. Another aspect of a farmer's 

 business in which practical knowledge is of great import- 

 ance is seen in his dealings with men. Under no circums- 

 tances, perhaps, will mere theoretical knowledge more com- 

 pletely break down than when brought into such collision 

 with the prejudices of the worldng man. It cannot 

 8tan<l for a moment, for unless you can say you know 

 by e.'cperience that the course recommended is the best, 

 he has the advantage in the argument over the master. 

 — Agricultural Gazette, 



Hazel Nuts, which form an important article of export 

 from Trebizoud, are stated in a recent report to be produced 

 in Kerassond of a superior quality to those grown in any 

 other parts of the vilayet. The values of the exports of nuts 

 to Great Britain during the second part of the decade exceed 

 by nearly £9,000 those in the former ycsLts.— Gardeners' 

 Chronicle. 



The Tomato an Insecticide.— It has^often been asserted 

 (says a correspondent of the Garden) that aphides have 

 such_ a strong aversion to the tomato that the mere sus- 

 pension of a few branches of this esculent on peach trees, 

 or indeed on anythmg iufestcil by them, would in some 

 cases suffice to clear it of them in a few days. In others 

 the effect has not been so satisfactory. It is, however, 

 interesting to learn that a French nurseryman is making 

 practical use of the tomato as an insecticide. By infus- 

 ing the leaves at the rate of about one pound to ten quarts 

 of water, adding thereto twenty quarts more water, he ob- 

 tains an efficient insecticide. By planting tomatoes amongst 

 his melons he keeps away the aphides which attack them. — 

 Queenslander. 



Ashes as a Fertiliser. — Unleached wood ashes contain 

 all the constitueuts of plant food that the ordinary or 

 worn-out soil needs, except nitrogen. By their chemical 

 action, they render much of the inert nitrogen in soils 

 available and in that way may be said to furnish nitrogen. 

 This is true of lime, and on this power of making 

 nitrogen avilable the greate.st value of lime, when applied 

 as a fertiliser, depends. Ashes also have a good mechan- 

 ical efliect upon the soil, especially heavy clay soils, which 

 are made Ughter and more porous, so that air and 

 water circulate more freely. Ashes do not suffer waste 

 by being washed out to the extent that is true of the 

 more soluble and concentrated fertilisers sold in the markets 

 — their effects are therefore more lasting. — A itstralasian. 



Ooii'EE. — The active principles of tea, coffee, and cocoa 

 are, as to chemical composition, almost if not actually 

 identical. Physiologists are now, I believe, unanimous in 

 the conclusion that tea and coffee, and, a fortiori cocoa and 

 chocolate, are more than grateful solaces to the nervous 

 system, actually conducing to blood and strength. Om-ionsly, 

 too, in support of these scientific deductions, is a testimony 

 of Bruce, the celebrated Abyssinian traveller, a man sus- 

 pected of drawing the traveller's long-bow at the time 

 when his travels were written, but whose accounts of the 

 strange things he saw in Abyssinia have since been fully 

 verified. Bruce narrates that the Abyssinians, when starting 

 on war excursions, and desirous of not overburdening them- 

 selves with commissariat stores, were in the habit of 

 mingling butter and powdered coffee, rolling the compound 

 into balls about the bigness of a billiard-ball each, and 

 living wholly for long continuous periods on the compound. 

 Consideration of the actual nutritive property of coft'ec is 

 of importance in cstabhshing the dietary of gaols, union 

 workhouses, and other institutions sujiplied with a fixed 

 dietary. In laying down the food regulation of these places, 

 the rule has been acted upon of giving all neccssaiy food, 

 but withdrawing all mere stimulants — in a wider sense, all 

 nervine solaces. Accordingly it will bo found — looliingai; 

 the published dietaries of these places — that gruel has beeu 

 made to supplant tea and coffee almost exclusively. This 

 would seem to be physiologically wrong, as it is socially 

 cruel. To t he case of union inmates well stricken in years 

 the chargr >f cruelty with fullest force applies. The quantity 

 of tea a: I I coffee with dry bread that certain old people 

 — more ji -rticularly old women — will consume and thrive 

 upon, to the exchision of meat, would surprise anybody 

 who hn ! not been witness of it. There is good warranty 

 for afficiniug that the digestive organs get acclimatised to 

 particular foods and modes of living by practise, as the 

 whole human body does to regions. People long accustomed 

 to tea and coffee cannot well do without those more than 

 solaces to e.tisteni-e. One word now about the roasting of 

 coffee. In England tliis operation is seldom conducted in 

 private families, but is done by the coffee-roaster. Still, 

 if coffee be desired to have the highest flavour of which 

 it is susceptible, it should bo roasted just before using. 

 There is no difficulty iu the matter. A frving-pan answers 

 quite well; and in •Tcrman.y — the Khine pronnces, at lea.st 

 — is mostly used for the purpose. The raw coffee being 

 13ut into the pan with the least pat of butter, is set over 

 the fire and stirred till of a delicate browu. — Leisure Jloitr. 



