August i, 1883.] 



THE TROPICAL AGKICULTURIST. 



99 



^orresponderu:;^. 



To the Editor, 



THE YIELD OF SUGAR TX THE SANDWICH 

 ISLANDS. 

 Queen's Hotel, Kandy, July 13th, iRs:; 



Sir, — My attention having been dra^in to a p^ira- 

 graph in your paper of the r2th instant, in which you 

 mention the yield of sugar in the Sandwich Islands 

 at 10 tons per acre, 1 write now to correct wluit may 

 prove a misleading statement. 



I'he highest yield I have heard of from reliable au- 

 thorities was 7 tons per acre, and the highest yield 

 I ever aot Irom my own laud was 227 tons from a Hold of 

 g9,V acres, or not quite (i tons per acre. From 3 to 4 t'.ns 

 pei- acre is a remarkably good averaae crop. — Youis 

 faithfully, W. HERBERT PURVIS. 



been planted with beat hybrid Assam, than whie 

 nothing can be better, we believe for low or higli 

 eleratious. — Eu.] 



HOW TO RAISE TEA PLANTS. 



22ad June 18S2. 



Dear Sir,— A few hints as !o what I consider the 

 proper way to raise tea plants may not be out of ■ 

 place, especially as from what I have both seen and 

 heard as lo the way some people treat tea seed I 

 am of opinion tl.at a great proportion of it does not 

 germinate because of i'uproper treatment. This refers 

 more particularly to seed imported from India, which, 

 from the length of the journey, has lost some of its 

 vitality. I believe ihat all tea seed ought to be ^ 

 germinated before it is put into the nursery beds, as 

 tea seed is very irregular in germinating, and it is a 

 common thing "to see s-eeds just germinating when 

 seeds in the same beds put in .at the same time h .ve 

 formed plants 6 inches high. I iiave "found the fol- 

 lowing way of germinatiug tea seed very successful, ■ 

 viz., erect sheds fncing the north about four feet 

 wide and spread the seed evenly over the bed as 

 close as it wdl lie without having one seed placed ; 

 OTC»- another, and cover the seed »ith about 4 riches 

 of manure in a state of fermentation. The heat from 

 the manure forces on germination and the manure can 

 be turned back and all the seeds as they germinate 

 picked out and planted in nurs ry beds. I watL-r 

 thoroughly at least once a day, but old seed should 

 be watered very sparingly at first, else it will rot. 



I have heard cases of germinating tea seed in 

 cold, -wet districts by heaping the tea seed in a 

 cistern and pouring water over it. In my humble 

 opiuioa this is inoie likely to not theseed than to biiug 

 ill fermentation. 



What is your opinion as to this cryforJ.it! JrxtllV 

 I was under the impression that different jats suit dif- 

 ferent climates, and that it would be injudicious to 

 plant a hybrid which approaches the indigenous Assam 

 at a high elevation. ' 



I was informed by an old tea planter some years ago 

 that he got more weight of leaf off the bushes with 

 medium-sized leaves than off the bnshfs with vtry 

 large leaves. 



1 have also noticed that the bushes with medium- 

 sized leaves have far more shoots to the same surface 

 than the type approaching the indigenous. — Yours 

 faithfully, URION. 



[At between 5,000 and 6,000 feet altitude in Upper 

 Dirnbula what was received as seed of indigenous 

 Assam has proved slower in growth while in no other 

 respect that we have ever been able to see snpeiior 

 to first quality hybrid. The latter flourishes splend- 

 idly up to nearly G.OO'I feet and flushes copiously. 

 So, we are bound to say, does a patch of China which 

 came from n.arjilino and was sold as first-ciass hybrid. 

 'I he Daijiling estates were all originally planteii with 

 the Cliina plant, but ail new c'earings both on tlie 

 hills and in the Terai, have, for the past dezen years, 



LEGERIANA-SUCCIKUBRA HYBRIDS. 



Juno 2S, ISS.'?. 



Dfak Sirs, — Whilst discussions have been going on 

 as to the most valuable xarietics of cinchona, it has 

 often struck me as strange that so little allusion has 

 been made to the hybriil originating between Ifd iff nana 

 and xiicriruhya, \\\oug\i it n paratlel, C. rohuxta, has — 

 and deservedly — receivcil so mucli notice. Mr. T. X. 

 Christie was shrewd enouglf to recognize the probably 

 very great value of many of the hybrids thus 

 oriyinatiiig — giving it, if my memory serves me right, 

 as his opinion that the most valuable and useful 

 variety ot all would be found here : but further than 

 this, little or notDing, as far as I have seen, has been 

 said as to the very important position they are 

 eventually likely to occupy ; or, in fact, regarding 

 them. That, as in the case of 7-ohn-<sta, puhexrenx, 

 niwi ii'ifoUa, &c., the}' will differ amongst themselves 

 in quality, iu fact, as do juin' li'ihurimms. there can 

 be. little doubt ; but that, admitting the parent ledf/^a 

 to lie of good merit, they will prove extremely valu- 

 able, there surely can be none.''. Certainly not, if C. 

 rohiti^ta be accepted as a criterion : and could there 

 be a fairer ? Wj- attention has been especially called 

 to the subject by a general analysis of mixed hybrid 

 and pure ledger bark, of between 68'70 per cent 

 sulphate of quinine ; and, though I have not the 

 hgures by me, I believe but a, decimal percenta'je 

 of other alkaloids ; so that, whether the admixture of 

 hybrid bark may have retluced the standard or not, 

 it must, at least, have been remarkably free from 

 other alkaloids. That the growth of the plants is. 

 at least, doidt/e, I have proof in some raised from 

 mixed hybrid and pure seed, the former being Jieac/ 

 n nd shoulder abo\'e the latter : as rohuxt and hardy, 

 in fact, as siireinilyra. which they somewhat resemble 

 ill size and shape of leaf. And there can be no doubt 

 that they can claim the characteristic attaching to 

 all hijlirids, at least, among the rinrhonas, and other- 

 w^ise too, if 1 mistake not, lioth in the animal as 

 well as the re'jetahle kingdom, of increased ritrtlity, 

 and strength of constitution. 



All things being taken into consideration, I think 

 there can be little doubt that, in the future, by far 

 the most remunerative plantations on a large scale 

 will consist of these ledger hybrids only, unless 

 some of the new introductions from South America 

 can claim first place. X. 



[In recently noticing Mr. Cameron's splendid cin- 

 chonas, we mentioned some good-looking calisaya- 

 succirubra hybrids we had seen on Lippakelle. \Ve 

 think wc have also mentioned the existence of similar 

 hybrids on Abbotsford. 'J'hese latter were grown 

 from seed of island-grown calisayas, and when the 

 young plants were put out we could not helji think- 

 ing that a mistake had been made anil that the 

 plants were pure snccirubra. As they grew up, how- 

 ever, they put on the calisaya foliage, only that some 

 of the leaves were equal to snccirubra in size. There 

 are shades of varieties from pure calLsaya to almost 

 snccirubra. Most of the trees are robust in habit, 

 but we have not yet tested the quality of the bark. 

 Trees hnoien to be hybrids between true ledgeriana 

 and snccirubra,, we do not feel sure that wc have 

 ever seen. Information on the subject will bo wel- 

 come. — Ell.] 



CARDAMOM CULTIVATION. 

 De.vr Sir. — Lest "chaff" should pass tmohserved 

 for " grain, " pleaseaccept a few remarks, in the 

 absence of more weighty criticism, 'Ui the. commun- 

 ication of " Alierdonensis, page 7<>. " 



