May I, 1884.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



789 



In conclusiou, I would only say that I have endeavoured 

 in this short paper to draw attention to the great im- 

 portance of not relying entirely on the chemical analysis 

 of a soil, hat that we should also consider the mechanical 

 and physical condition of the same, as well as the nature 

 and composition of the crop which is proposed to be grown 

 on such soil, before we report upon the quality of the 

 land, or on the kind of manure which is likely to be 

 most beneficial as a fertilizer. 



79, Mark Lane, London, E. C, 

 Jan. 27th, 1882. 



THE WALLABA TREE : EFFECT OF THE 

 MOON ON SAP; HORSES AND GOATS IN 

 CEYLON; YAMS. 



Dear Sir, — ^Last two numbers of the Tropical are 

 wortli anyoue'e perusal for the infurmation tbey contain: 

 March for gcnrral — I was going to sav information. 

 " There is more than was dreamed of in your 

 philosophy, Hiiriitio": that I fonad out in read- 

 ing some articles in last n'jmber of the tnonthly 

 aforesaid. By-the-bye the negroes have it, that the 

 wallaba tree, used for shlnQles, ehould only be cnt 

 in the dark moon, and say it is full of sap when the 

 moon is liUing ; they also say, some esculents grow 

 more in the light and bright moonshine, than under 

 tlie receding r.ay8 of Luna : cnu this be true ? 



For reasons, I svish to knoiv what the Govern- 

 ment is doing with the island of DL-ll't. Does it still 

 produce hardy and fleet ponies as of yore, or a 

 superior kind of goats,* or cows ; also can any of your 

 Jaffna friends favour you with the mode of cultiv. 

 ation of yams in the northern peninsula, as now 

 carried on there ?— Yours truly, K. 3, 



TEA ON ABBOTSFORD AND THE QUESTION 

 OF MANURING. 

 Upper Abbotsford, 26th March 18S4. 



Dear Sir,--As the statistics I gave of the yield of 

 tea on this estate have created a good deal of interest, 

 I think it may not be out of place if I answer puii- 

 licly the questions I have received as to wtiether the 

 fields in que-^tion have undergone any manuring. I 

 may say at once that not an acre has been system- 

 atically m'nured. In 1S78 some China bean was 

 by way of experiment applied, with stalks of nilu, 

 buried, to the tea surrounding the bungalow, about 

 .•? acie« in all. In Deo. I88'2 and Feb. 1884, 5 acres 

 (which include the above 3) bod a basket of ravine 

 s'uff added to the buried prunings. In June 1882 

 and August 18S3, 15 acres had ravine stuff added to 

 the buried prunings, mixed with the small amount of 

 manure that five cattle give. About 7 acres have 

 had their prunings buried mixed with a basket of 

 cinchona twig ashes. So that, out of the total of 110 

 ,icres, 27 have been (in a fashion) mannred. 



The following little sum will show th it my hopes 

 of getting between 500 and GOO lb. per acre this year 

 are not without some foundation. 



Tea madt^ in 1884 to 3lst March : — 

 Acres 110) 16856 1b. 



Weeks 12) 153^ 



12J X 52 weeks for the y.ar. 

 52 



663 lb. made-tea per a?re. 

 We are therefore, already making at the rate of C.5fi lb. 

 p'-r acre aUhough 5 acres were }iniiie<i in February, and 



* I feel >ure Angora or Cashmere goats would thrive 

 well on Oeylonian hills and would eat the tender mana grass, 

 only requiring to be fed once a day with boiled gram, &:c. 



about 10 acres more since 1st March, and pruning 

 still going on. And the 110 acres incladea our thous- 

 ands of eeedbearers, from which of course we get 

 no leaf. During one week in February we made 

 3,000 lb., or at the rate of 1,418 lb. p ^r acre. If anyone 

 is sceptical of tea doing well iu Ceylon after this, 

 let him now speak or for ever hereafter hold his peace. 

 —I am youis truly, A. M. FERGUSON, Jr. 



Florida Obangi:.s — A cin-espondent writes (rom 

 Yei'oaiid, South India: — "Can you oblige me by 

 putting me in the w.ay of obtaining some seeds of 

 the best Florila o-anyes ? I fear if I went to an 

 ordinary seedsman, the seed would nit be reliable, but, 

 as I see old Ceylon planters are writing to you ;rom 

 Florida, perhaps you may be able to help me." Per- 

 haps some reader in Florida can supply our corre- 

 spondent ? 



ISDi.VN Species of Cyperus. — At the last meeting of the 

 Linnean Society the Secretary read an abstract of an un- 

 portaiit contributiou " On the Indian Species of Cyperus," 

 by Mr. 0. 13. Clarke, with remarks on some others that 

 specially illustrate the subdivisions of the genus. The au- 

 thor divides his memoir into three sections : — 1. A descript- 

 ive account of each part of a Cyperus, viz., the culm, in- 

 florescence, &c., comparing these successively in all tlio Ind- 

 ian species; 2, a discussion of some difficult species and 

 disputed genera ; 3, a systematic arrangement with descrip- 

 tions of the Indian species, with short citations of some 

 non-Indian species that more particularly illustrate the sub- 

 divisions and groups. — Gardeners' Chronicle. 



Bacteria again. — When seeds begin to grow and buds 

 to sprout, one e.ssenti.al preliminary is the conversion of 

 the insoluble and indigestible into the soluble and digest- 

 ible. In the seed and in the bud starch is stored up, 

 having been formed by the conjoint agency of solar light 

 and the green matter of the leaves (chlorophyll), the pre- 

 vious season. This starch is insoluble, but through the 

 agency of a nitrogenous ferment called diastase, secreted 

 by the protoplasm of the cell, the iusoluble starch becomes 

 converted into soluble sugar or maltose. So much has been 

 known for a considerable time as a general fact, though 

 the subsidiary details have and still continue to ta.v the 

 patience and ingenuity of chemists. A further complication 

 is brought about, in some cases at least, by the agency 

 of Bacteria. It appears that these minute germs secrete 

 either diastate itself or something like it, by means of which 

 they dissolve the starch and appropriate its carbon, setting 

 free in so doing some oxygen, which is used up by the 

 germinating seed or .sprouting bud. — Ibid. 



The Almond. — What beautiful objects are the fine trees 

 of Almonds so frequently met with in gardens near Lon- 

 don ! In early spring the Almond certainly rules supreme 

 in British gardens. One of the forms has snow-white 

 flowers, another — the one mast commonly met witli — rose- 

 tinted or tlush-coloured blossoms. A weeping form, too, is 

 an ornamental low-growing tree, of great value where the 

 ordiii.'iry type would require to be cut back and cramped 

 in order to confine it to a space which is sufBcient for 

 the weeijing variety. AVhat country, or countries, can claim 

 the Almond as a true native ? De Candolle, in his ex- 

 tremely interesting work, L'Oriyine des Flantes Cultivees, 

 inclines to the belief th,at parts of 'Western Asia can claim 

 this honour, and that in Sicily, Greece, Italy, France, and 

 elsewhere, where the Almond occurs in an apparently wild 

 state, it has become naturalised more or less recently. 

 Hasselquist, the friend and pupil of Linna3ns, in the in- 

 teresting account of bis Travels to the East, quaintly philo- 

 sophises about the Almond. " AVby," says he, " does the 

 Almond tree, which hath white flowers, blossom on bare 

 boughs? not for the same reason as the Hazel; perhaps 

 the fruit, having a stone, requires a longer time to grow ? 

 They adorn the rising grounds, and according to Nature's 

 order ought to afford much fruit, as they bloom .at a time 

 of the year when the sky is constantly serene, and it 

 neither rains nor is there any kind of bad weather, v.hich 

 in many countries prevent a fine blos.som from gi\iiig the 

 wi.slicd-for fruit.*' — //'/(/. 



