iH 



THE TSOPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[May t, 1884, 



The use of chakcoal as a medium in which to pack seeds 

 to he sent to this country from abroad is very comraou indeed ; in 

 fact, a considerable number of scientific correspomleuts seem 

 to pin their faith to charcoal as a packing agent to a 

 remarkable extent. As far as our experience goes, its use 

 is, however, decidedly objectionable, as, apart from its dirti- 

 ness, it absorbs the moisture from the seeds, and in manv 

 cases so thoroughly, that all germinating power is lost by 

 the time the package arrives at its destination. All short- 

 lived seeds seem to travel best in damp clay or moist 

 earth. Packed firmly in damp clay, Siebold .succeeded in 

 introducing tea seeds from the Chinese tea countries to 

 Java, and also the seeds of a large number of oaks, camel- 

 lias, and other Japanese plants, from their native country 

 to Holl.'oid. Seeds of tea, coffee, and a host of other plants 

 which utterly fail to retain their germiuative faculty during 

 a lengthened sea voyage when packed either without any 

 packing medium, or forwarded in charcoal, grow readily 

 wlieu treated in the manner adopted by Siebold. "We are 

 glad to see Mr. Prestoe condemning the use of charcoal 

 in his last report on the Trinidad Botanic Garden. — Gard- 

 eners' Chronicle. 



Gum S.iBcocotL.\. — A new light on the source of Gum 

 Sarcocolla, which is also known in Bombay as " Gujar," and 

 in Arabia and Persia as " Auzeroot," is given by Dr. Dymock 

 in his X^eget'i^ih Materia Jlndica of JFestern India. For a 

 long time this substance has been doubtfully referred to 

 a species of Penasa, belonging to the natural order Penieaceje. 

 but it has always beeu felt to have a very shaky position 

 there, inasmuch as the species are all African. Dioscorides 

 describes Sarcocolla as the tear of a Persian tree, that the gum 

 resembles powdered frankincense, with a bitterish taste and a 

 reddi.sh colour. It. is seldom seen in Europe at the present 

 time, though it is still largely used in the East as a drug. 

 " It is also used internally as an antirheumatic .^nd anth- 

 elmiutic, and the Egyptian women eat it on account of its 

 fattening properties." It is imported into Bombay from 

 the Persian port of Bushire in bags containing about '2 

 cwt. Dr. Dymock says the total quantity imported must 

 be considerable, as from twelve to twenty bags may often 

 be seen in a single wherehouse. From pods and other 

 portions of the plant taken from bales of the gum, he 

 is strongly of opinion that its source will prove to be one 

 of the desert Legumino-seEe, not far removed from Astragalus. 

 From the entire absence of leaves in the bales it would 

 seem " that the Sarcocolla is collected by beating the bushes 

 after the leaves have fallen. — Ihid. 



ToxQuiN OR Tonga BE.ix. — Mr. Prestoe, in his report on 

 the Trinidad Botanic Gardens has some interesting notes 

 on what he supposes to be a new species or form of Tou- 

 quin Bean from Venezuela. He says the high price ruling 

 for Touquin or Tonga beans iu a prepared state has at- 

 tracted much attention to it as a tree of some promise 

 under cultivation, and in consequence inquiries have been 

 made tor supplies of plants. The roots of the large trees 

 in the garden are said to be seriously affected at the roots 

 by fungoid growths, all attempts tu sujiprcss which have 

 hitherto proved only partially effective. On the subject of 

 this A^enezuelan plant, or "Sarapia," as it is called, Mr. 

 Prestoe, says: — "It has long been known that there ex- 

 isted iu Venezuela a much larger vai'iety of Tonga Bean 

 than that produced on the garden trees, and diiTeriug con- 

 siderably from that described as Dipteryx o.dorata, inhabit- 

 ing the British and Dutch Guianas; and steps licing tfiken 

 to obtain supplies of fresh seeds, several lots have been 

 received in the form of entire fruits, which are uniformly 

 of this larger ami very superior variety. The fruit is usu- 

 ally twice as large again as the Demerara Tonga Bean and 

 that figured by Aublct. The habit of the tree bearing this 

 superior Beau resemliles that of the Mango, having much 

 less the character of a forest tree than th.at bearing the 

 .smaller leaves. The present high commercial value of the 

 Sarapia," Mr. Prestoe says, ''arises from a widespread 

 and ever increasing appreciation of its use in Europe and 

 America as a flavouring material in articles of immense 

 consumption, such as tobacco, cigars, cacao, confectionery, 

 &c., liut more p.articularly the former; so that its con- 

 eumption will rather increase than otherwise," This para- 

 graph, though it mentions the Sarapia, we pre.sume, alludes 

 to the Tonquin Bean of commerce (D. odorata). It is sug- 

 gested that as a plantation of these trees would partake 

 mote of the character of a forest than a plantation, such. 



for instance, as Cocoa, the only cultural requirement would 

 be such clearing as to render ea.sy the collecting of the 

 fruits as they fall to the gi'ound. — Ibid. 



Tamaeikds: Tajiarintjus indica. — There are but few peo- 

 ple to whom the flavour of preserved Tamarinds is not 

 agreeable, but do those who frequently use Tamarinds know 

 how they are prepared ? They come into commerce both 

 from the East and West Indies ; the latter, it would seem, 

 are simply the fruits, or, rather, pods from which the shell 

 or epicarp has been removed, and the pulp, together with 

 the strong fibrous framework upon which it is built, and 

 the seeds are placed in altei-nate layers with powdered sugar 

 in a c»8k or jar, over which boiling syrup is afterwards 

 poured. In the East Indies it seems they are prepared by 

 first removing the epicarp and seeds by hand, after which 

 the pulpy portion is usually mixed with about 10 per cent 

 of salt, and trodden into a mass with the naked feet. Of 

 'these Tamaviuds several quahties are known in the market, 

 the best being free of fibre and husk, and the worst con- 

 taining both, together with the hard stone-lilje seeds, which 

 are commonly eaten in the East Indies after being roasted 

 and soaked to remove the outer skin, and then boiled or 

 fried, when they are said to be tolerably palatable. West 

 Indian Tamarinds are alone officinal in the British Pharm- 

 aco2iceia ; while on the Continent those from the East Ind- 

 ies are alone employed. Besides the Tamarinds sent to 

 Europe, they are also shipped in large quantities from 

 Bombay to Persia and other northern countrie.s. — Iliid. 



Sexes of Nutmeg Trees.— Any method by which the sex 

 of seedling plants of the nutmeg may be determined with 

 any approach to accuracy is a matter of no little moment 

 to many who are interested in tropical agriculture. As 

 the males, in excess of those required for purposes of fertil- 

 isation, are useless, much labour and time may be saved by 

 following Mr. Prestoe's directions. In the last pubhshed 

 Report on the Trinidad Garden, Mr. Prestoe says : — " The 

 planting out of successional nutmeg trees has enabled ine 

 to determine the sexes in seedling plants under a foot high 

 by character presented in the leaf form and venation, and 

 with sufficient acciu'acy for all praLtical purposes; as also 

 the proportion of male trees and female as usually raised 

 from seeds." In order to distinguish the male and female 

 seedlings, the form of the leaf and the direction of the veins 

 must be observed, the female leaf being the most perfectly 

 elliptical, with the straighter primary veins; the male leaf 

 is broader towards the point than at the middle — that is, 

 of obovate shape, and furnished with a point much longer 

 than that of the female ; the veins are cm-ved-in towards 

 the point nuich more roundly than in the female. Mr. 

 Prestoe has ])roved by experiments conducted by himself — 

 and the young trees now fruiting fully bear out the state- 

 ment — that by carefully foUowir.g the tests above given, 

 the results will be correct eight or nine times out of ten. — 

 Ibid. 



KoKUM Butter. — The following interesting note on Gar- 

 cinia indica is contained in Dr. Dymock's recently pub- 

 lished Vefjei(d)Je Materia Medica of IVestcrn India. It is 

 of value because it corrects a statement often made in 

 books, that it is used to adulterate "ghee," or liquid butter. 

 Dr. Dymock states that the tree is common on the West- 

 ern coast between Damaun and Goa. It grows wild upon 

 the hills of the Concans, but is often seen in gardens close 

 to the se-i. It is in flower about Christmas, and ripens its 

 fruit in .A xil and May. The fruit is largely used all along 

 the Wr^t rn Coast as an acid ingredient in curries, and 

 in a dry -tate as an article of commerce. The usual mode 

 of ijrepri ing it is to remove the seeds and dry the pulp 

 iu the sun ; it is then slightly salted, and is ready for market. 

 In Goa the pulp is sometimes separated'fromthe skin and 

 made i ito l.nrgc globular or elongated masses. An oil is 

 extracted from the seeds by pounding and boiling them ; 

 it becomes solid on cooking, and is moulded by hand info 

 the well-known egg-shaped balls, or concavo-convex cakes, 

 known as Kokum butter. " The natives occasionally use it 

 for cooking, but the statement that it is largely used in 

 Goa to adulterate ghee (liquid butter) is incorrect. In the 

 first place no ghee is made in Goa ; the bulk of the in- 

 habitants, who are Oliristians, obtain their ghi;e (lard) from 

 the pigs which abound in that territory, an<l the Hindoos 

 import theirs from Bombay. So few cattle are kept in 

 Goa that it is difficult to obtain milk, and still more bo 

 b\\t\ev."—Jbid. 



