124 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[August i, 1883* 



question leferred to it. audis of opinion tliat it is desii*- 

 able that tresli varieties of cane aud fresh plants of some 

 of the old kinds should he at once introduced into the 

 colony. Ycur Committee is of opinion that the hest way 

 to accompli>h this end would be to send a commissioner 

 to various places to per.sonally select and dispatch likely 

 varieties. A^'ith the object of testing puhlic feeling on this 

 question, your Committee drew up the accompanying circ- 

 vdai-. with the intention of sending a copy to every sugar- 

 plant ^r in the colony. On second thoughts, however, it 

 tjioun-ed to the Committee that in so doing they might 

 inssihly he going beyond their legitimate duties, and de- 

 ei.led to obtam the sanction of the Association before 

 patting the matter before the outside public. Shoidd the^ 

 actim here indicated be sanctioned by the Association, the 

 Coraraitlee will be prepared to go on with the matter. 

 It will be seen that in the proposed circular, Government 

 assistance is mentioned ; this assistance your Committee 

 has rea:on to hope would be granted. — "W. K. Co^^^.Kv, Con- 

 vener of Committ ."e. 



February 12th, 1883. 



Dear Sir, — The A'ictox-ia Planters' Association has ap- 

 pointed a Committee to consider and report on the best 

 method of introducing fresh varieties of sugarcane. This 

 Committee is of opinion, that the best way would be to 

 send a commissioner to the following places; — Madagascar, 

 Queensland and the Eastern Coast of this Continent. The 

 Committee is of opiiuou that from these places almost 

 every variety of cane can be obtained. 



It is estimated that the cost of introducing enough canes 

 from thesi places to start a large nur.sery would be about 

 £4iK), ai.d the cost of establishing and maintaining this 

 nursi rywoulil, for two years, be about £^00. It is proposed 

 that this sum be raised as follows : — £10 each from 35 

 persons interested in sugar, and £350 from the Government. 



It is suggested that the subscribers to this fund should 

 retain the management of the enterprize, and be the fii-st 

 to secure plants from the nmsery. After two seasons plants 

 could be sold to anyone at cost price. 



I am desire I by the Committee to ask if you would 

 fpi'OvisionaUy) promise to be one of the 35 subscribers to 

 this fund. A meeting of contributors would be held before 

 any steps were taken.— I am, dear sir, yours truly, 



■\V. Iv. Cow LEV, for Committee. 

 — Xatdl Jferctrt'i/. 



[For the Comniittee's Report on Fibres, see index for page.] 



Obaxge C.\ke. — Two cups of sugar, two of flour, four 

 eggs, the white of one left out, two oranges, one gi-ated 

 for the cake, the other for icmg, tln^ee table spoonfids of 

 melted butter, pomed on the flour, one half cup of cold 

 water put iu alternatively with the flour. Table si)00nful 

 cream tartar, one-half teaspoojiful of soda, rind and juice 

 of remaining oi-anges. white of eggs and sugar beaten to- 

 gether for the top and between the cakes, [iiend ui a slice. 

 — Ed.] — FloiiJa Ji/rici'.hi'.rist. 



DotiWOOD. — Though a plant of not large growth, it is 

 CO umercially of great value. It is indigenous to North 

 America, but it thrives best in New Jersey, Maryland and 

 A'irginia. "WTiere the soil is gravelly and shaded, it grows 

 ■well in Tennessie. The wood is hard, close grained, and 

 takes a fine iiolish. It is used principally in the manufac- 

 ture of mallet handles, toys, hames. shuttles, harrow teeth, 

 and shoeing fcr sl«;ds. The bark is bitter, contains many 

 of ihe qualities of the Veruvian bark, and is often used as 

 a substitute for it. — Artisan. 



Bauos" Ljebig has once more made a most important 

 discovery, and this time it nearly affects all possible cocoa- 

 lutgrjwing countrie?. This is his Malti -rjegumine. "What 

 tins IS I cannot tell you. Its preparation is a stx-ict secret, 

 and when the manufacture commences here, this process will 

 only be known to two persons, who will be bound under 

 iKHiv-y penalties not to tlisclose the secret. Suffice it to say 

 that cocoa comes largely into its composition. It is said that 

 90 per cent, of this Malto-Legumine is easily assimilated bj' 

 the weakest digestion. The 4 4 per cent, of water and the 

 22 per cent of fat in butchers' meat are replaced in this 

 valuable discovery by <55 per cent, of easily assimilated carbo- 

 hydnites, thus giving both meat and bread in a form unsur- 

 passed. Baron Leibig's legmninous cocoa appears to be nearly 

 l)erfect food. The objectipuiible prepouUei'auce of fat found 



in the bean is reduced, but the flesh forming quality is in- 

 creased by judiciously using a meat lich iu those bodies de- 

 ficient in cocoa. Undoubtedly the consumption of cocoa is 

 increasing in this country. In 1878 the number of tons en- 

 tered for home consumption was 4,445 tons; in 1879, 4,514 

 tons; in IS.^0, 4,717 tous; and in 1881, 4,6iS5 tons. 1 8 ?2 also 

 shows a proportionate increase. The machinery for manu- 

 facturing this Malto-Legumine will be up iu February ; at 

 present all supplies come from Germany. I should say 

 there is little doubt, from the advantage which it has iu 

 being much cheaper than other cocoas in the market, thus 

 reaching the lower classes, that is will command very largo 

 sales and much increase the consumption of cocoa in Great 

 Britain and all her dependencies. — Fiji Times. 



Valve of the Sunflowee. — It is the best egg-producing 

 food known for poultry, keeping them in a thn\ing condition 

 and largely increasing the production of eggs. Every poultry 

 raiser who tries it will find that this seed is the hest known 

 food for glossing the plumage of fowls, and is almost indispens- 

 able to those who want to fit their birds for exhibition to the 

 best advantage. The Kussian sunflower is easily raised, re- 

 quires very little care, can be grown iu fence corners or other 

 places difficult to cultivate. Its production of seed is im- 

 mense, yielding often at the rate of one hnnth'ed bushels 

 i to the acre. It should be phiuted in hiUs four feet apart, 

 any time from the 10th of Jlay to the 1st of July. Thi'ee 

 quarts of seed ^vill plant an acre. — luica Homestead. 



AiiTiFiciAL IxcuBATOKS. — The possibilities of the artificial 

 incubator are attracting much attention iu theUnitedState.«. 

 Successfid experimenters have foimd that as the size of the 

 machiue is increased, the percentage of hatch is decreased. 

 This is accounted for by the fact that an enclosed sm-face 

 of four feet square can be so heated that there is no ap- 

 parent variation of temxieratm'e in any part of it ; but when 

 that sm-face is increased, say to eight square feet, there 

 will be a decided variation in the outside edges. Professor 

 J. Hasbruck, who has devoted much time to the question 

 of artificial hatching names miifonnity of temperature as 

 the most important condition ; and a trustworthy regulator 

 is thus the first essential of a gOod incubator. Mr. Hasbruck 

 finds, after repeated experiments, that eggs hatch equally 

 well, other things being the same, if held fixedly at any 

 point between lu2 and 105 degrees, or if the heat varies 

 from 98 to 106 degrees, without remaining long at the ex- 

 tremes. Very few eggs, he observes, will start below 102 

 degi-ees, none at 100; and for the fiist half of the incubat- 

 ing period few will endm-e 11*0 degrees many hours. Some 

 operators advise a considerable increase of heat at about 

 the middle of the hatching; and otheis advise a reduction 

 of temperature dinging the latter half of hatching. But all 

 wUl go well, whether the temperature he varied or kept just 

 at it was at the beginning, so long as the heat is kept well 

 within the safe lines— \'iz., between lui* and 105 degrees,— 

 Colonics and India. 



Canker ik Cinchoxa. — A corresjjondent wi*ites as fol- 

 lows on this subject: — There seems to me to be no rule at 

 all in the matter. For a long time I lielieved in acchmatised 

 seed as against imported, and was inclined to beheve that 

 the former was lesss Hable to canker, but I confess iu \-iew 

 of my later experience that I must somewhat modify my 

 former opinion. I don't say that imported seed is perferable 

 to our owni, but I do not think it one whit the more li- 

 able to canker. There is no difference I am sure between 

 them. I certainly believe canker is more or less contagions. 

 If not, how is it that, iu the seed beds, when it com- 

 mences to go out in rings, this stops, if the whole of the 

 ring, together with some of the surrounding seedlings, is 

 dug out? I tried au experiment t-ie other day in connection 

 with this subject which confirmed my previous \-iews of the 

 disease. In a seed bed which had been very unsuccessful, 

 and more than half of which had died out in rings, I in- 

 serted a glass tumbler, the bottom of which I had pre- 

 viously knocked out, and pressed it down till the tops of 

 the young seedlings that were inside it were about level 

 with the the rim of the glass. Oitt.-^ide the rim of the 

 glass were similar seedlings as thick as inside, but the 

 cankered ring was encroaching on this space daily, and in 

 a short space of time aU the seedlings round about tlio 

 glass tumbler had died off, the cankered ring ha\ing en. 

 veloped it and passed it by harmless, for all the seedling 

 withiu the glass were alive and well. Tliisled me tobelicv" 

 thoroughly that canker is cont^agious. — "Times of Ceylon.^ 



