August i, 1^83,] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



117 



main line. Over the whole length, the jungles of 

 massive trees, with a thick foliaf^e on intervening 

 branches which nearly shut out the light of Ueavm, 

 have been charetl; the formatii u is nearly completed, 

 as well as the lone bridge over the river Dehing, 

 and the rails bav<- been laid with despatch. Sim- 

 ulianefusly with the construction of the railwajs, 

 the uualfiilds in the Naga Hills beyond the Dehing 

 are being opened up enegeticnlly aud effectively under 

 able and experienced chiefs sent out from Italy and 

 the Stafitirdshire and North Wales coalfields, and 

 immense quantities of coal have been stackid all 

 ready for transport by the time the railwajs are 

 finished. So that in a few months, trains of coal will 

 be sent from the Naga Hills for distribution along 

 the line of plantations in Aseam, and for trans- 

 portation down the great Brahmaputra Kiver for 

 supplying the stations on either bank ; the laihvay 

 termini including those of Goalunda and Calcutta itself. 

 That this is the position you may feel absolutely 

 certain. Considering that we have only befn at work 

 two seasons, this being the second, I trust these 

 results will be deemed satisfactory to the Indian 

 Government, who, with a wise liberality, considering 

 the great benetits railways and coal will be.«tow on 

 the Assam Provinces, guaranteed 5 per cent, on the 

 railway capital and also to the public. Some tons 

 of coal have been sent to tliis country for analysis, 

 and the coal has been tested out there by practical 

 men. And the analysis here, coupled with the reports 

 from Assam, establish beyond doubt that the quality 

 of the coal is equal to British coal and admirably 

 suited for all purposes. It is fully equal to the coal 

 hitbeito imported into India from this country 

 and Ausiralia. As regards quantity it is practically 

 unlimited, aud easy to get, ns it comestoth' surface 

 in seams varjing from 5 to about 40 feet in thick- 

 ness. It can easily be imagiind what an irfluence 

 this tapping of such rich coal deposits will have upon 

 India and the glorious future that is in store for Assam 

 I have just been speaking to aii enterprising traveller 

 (Mr. L. pper) who has thoroughly explored Assam and 

 tl e, as yet, little known rejiious liKyond, wbere there 

 are precious stones and gold in abundani e ; and fiom 

 what he has told me tonight, a» «ell as the inap- I 

 have examined, there is no doubt on mj mind and 

 there can be no doubt but that Ass^m is the gae 

 of the Chinese and Burmese Empires; and 1 belive 

 that over tbe railways we are making and liiturH 

 extensions of them advancing civilization will flow 

 through the country you all take such an interest 

 in into the hv:irt of Cinna aud Bu'inah, and tbeii 

 Assam will b: come a province of surpa'sting interest. 



IxsECTS ox Flowers. — -Says a correspondent of the Garden: 

 " The best insectioiile, and the safest I have ever met 

 with, is nicotine soap, which, from containinpr the active 

 properties of tobacco witb other ingredients, i.-. fatal to 

 insects, aud has a uianellously cleansing effect on the 

 berk of trees, which it frees from all parasites in very 

 quick time. For using on the stems of vines and peach 

 trees it is quite unrivalled, as with a brush aud a slight 

 scrub, followed directly after by a dash of water from the 

 .syringe, it leaves them bright and polished, free from all 

 slimy deposits and other confervte. At one time peaches 

 aud vines used to be daubed with a coat of liquid clay 

 aud other mixtures to smother scale, but with nicotine 

 soap there is no ueed of this, and anyone who is troubled 

 with that insect, or red spider, or thrip, has only to apply 

 the wash to be rid of the pe.st. If on the young shoots 

 of peaches, the best way is to syringe it on at a strength 

 of four ounces to the .gallon of water used at a tem^ er- 

 ature of 90 ° or 100 ° , and immediately afterwards the 

 stems of the trees should be scrubbed and the whole, 

 rinsed oft at once. — Gardoiii's Monthly Uortictilturist. — 

 [AVe confess to never before having heard of nicotine soap. 

 Has diluted tobacco juice ever been tried as an iusecti- 

 cido or a fungicide in Ceylon ?— Ed.J 



PowDERhD SrLPHi K AS AJj Is.SECTicrrE is thus noticed 

 in the proceedings of the Madras Horticultural So- 

 ciety : — 



Eead the following letter from Messrs. H. Prudhomme 

 & Co., dated Madras, 13th April 1»<S3. 



" We beg to send you per bearer a small quantity of a 

 composition of powd.red sulphiu for disinfecting plants 

 and trees from no-^ous insects, aud request you mil be 

 good enough to give a fair trial to this for the said pur- 

 pose, and kindly submit to us your opinion and report at 

 your convenience, whether it proves successf id for the end 

 for which it has been intended. 



** We may here add for your information that this com- 

 position has been largely used in Egypt for cotton trees for 

 preventing the leaves from being tainted and destroyed by 

 insects or natural causes, in which place it has succeeded 

 in keeping the leaves fresh and luxuriant, it has also been 

 used in France for the Tine, and has also shared the same 

 success." 



The composition kindly sent by Messrs. Prudhomme & 

 Co. is apparently useful. It has to some extent checked 

 the plague of insects on the Cyca.s plants and with the 

 assistauce of muslin coverings has enabled some of them 

 to send out fairly good whorls of leaves. 



Messrs. Prudhomme & Co. have been written to for fur- 

 ther information. 



Read the following reply from Messrs. Prudhomme & 

 Co., dated Madras, 25th April 1883. 



" We have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of 

 your favor of the 25th instant, and we are glad to hear 

 of the i>owdered sulphur seeming to be promising for 

 destroying insects. Vu shall send you another supply of 

 the powder for further exiierimeut after you have exhausted 

 the quantity we have already sent you. 



" This composition is a manufacture of Marseilles, prin- 

 cipally of sulphur of a peculiar kind termed in French 

 ' Jlineral de Souffre" sold at the rate of R12 per owt.; 

 should your experiment prove succcssftd, as we hope, shall 

 be glad to receive your orders for the same." Rupees 240 

 per ton seems rather a heavy price for the substance. 



The coconut as food is thus noticed in an article 

 in tbe Fiji times on rations for labourers : — Before clos- 

 ing this list of the natural food supplies of Fiji, belong- 

 ing to the vegetable kingdom, it may be well to call 

 attention to the gieat siaple. the value of which, 

 ae a food, seems no to be appreciated. We allude to 

 the coconut. The dstributiu;; of a few coconuts weekly 

 to any of the vario'o tubes of recruits is immensely 

 valued. Especially fl« a .-uuday tr at, it is accepted 

 with gratit'de, au< tbe interest shown in making up 

 tbe vakaloln, very often of bush foods gathered by 

 themselves, in uneuiulMyed time, will show any one 

 who has the charge it them th'it it is not thrown away. 

 The cost ot the qurtity required is trifling, and the 

 addition to the content ot the lal ourer^ invaluable. It 

 is not f>o much tos-y it will often mak' u|i for a hard 

 we. k's work or sh< rt rations. As to the nutritive 

 value of this food doctors may liave doubts, but one 

 or two examples will sh w that the use of tiie coconut 

 alone for some tine wa n adver.^e to the good h alth 

 of those who lived on it soiely. Many years ago a ves- 

 sel, (the " New Wo-ld',) leftS.n Fi.nci-co with 400 

 pas-engeis. The w re what were known as "S.vdney 

 Ducks' in California ami were smt back by order of 

 thi' Vigilanc • Conimi'tee. Making along passage, she 

 ran short of stores and bad to put in at iSainoa. But a 

 small quantity of pork or beet could be obtained there, 

 aud the captain was advised to till up tlie ample space 

 be had, th< le being no cargo, with coconuts. Soon 

 after leaving Samoa they encountered heavy weather 

 and became wnter-logeed, the result of which was a very 

 long passage to Sydney, during which time they were 

 forced to live on these ciconuts alone. Men, women, 

 some of them in a celiuate way, and children, of all 

 ages, had no other food for suniething like eighty days, 

 and, whUe supplie.' O'! lihilmu in the first instance, were 

 reduced to oae coconut each per diem, for adults, and 

 a proportioi ate quantity for tbe younger passengers, 

 long ore they reached Sydney. Not one life was lost, 



