286 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[October i, 1883. 



interesting one from a botanical point of view, being allied 

 to the Ler/iimiiwsie in habit, and, inileetl, was erroneously 

 included by LiuUKUS in the genus GitUandina. It resembles 

 the plants of this family in having compound leaves, stip- 

 ules, raid flowers which chiefly differ from those of the 

 tribe Cicsalp^nae in the odd petal being inferior, in the 

 one-celled anthers, tricarpellary ovary, and anatropous 

 ovules. In the last two characters it approaches I'iolaeeif, 

 as well as in the tliree-valved fruit, parietal placentation, 

 and hollow ape.t of the style. In properties, it resembles 

 the Oi-ucifti-ie, Capparidacae and Bescdaceie. By Grisebach 

 it was placed in the Cupparidacea, and by other botanists 

 it has been compared with the Poly<jalace<t, Bi(jmniace<e, 

 and Sapbulaceo. In the classieal " Genera Plantarum " of 

 Bentham and Hooker, it follows Sapinadacea as an anomal- 

 ous genus of doubtful atfinity. It is not sui-prising, there- 

 fore, that from description alone Dr, Trail should have 

 referred " ilurungai " to the LeynminoSiP. Specimens of 

 the pods and root bark can be seen in the museum of the 

 rharmaceutical Society of Great Britain, — Lancet. 



THE LACQUER (SAME SOOT AS THE INDIAN 

 LAO?) INDUSTRY OF JAPAN. 



The subject of a correspondence between the Kew author- 

 ities, the Secretary of State and the Indian Government. 

 Packets of seed had been sent to Madras, of which it is 

 said: — 



Mr, Quin states that these particular seeds were obtained 

 " from trees whicli undergo a very severe winter, being almost 

 buried in snow for several months," 



The tree, however, wiU doubtless do equally well in a 

 less rigorous climate. Mr, Quin further states that the 

 wax used in the north of Japan is all made from the berries 

 of Rhus vernicifera. 



The identification of the ti-ee and its history are thus 

 afforded by Mr, Thiselton Dyer: — 



I am desired by Sir Joseph Hooker to draw your attention 

 to the steps which have been taken by this establishment to 

 obtain information as to the lacquer industry of Japan, As 

 you are aware, its products are highly esteemed by all lovers 

 of ai't, but up till the present time practically nothing has 

 been kuo\vii as to the methods by which such beautiful 

 objects are obtained. 



From the statement of Kampfer (1712), it has been accept- 

 ed by botanists that the varnish, which is the basis of all 

 lacquer work, was obtahied from incisions in the three-year 

 old stems of a tree indigenous to Japan, known as Rhus 

 veniicifertt. Beyond the fact that the tree is cultivated as 

 coppice wood, the information of Kampfer does not go, and 

 up to the present time our knowledge of the subject has 

 been a complete blank. Thus Balfour in his Oycloptedia of 

 India (1873; states that "the manner of preparing it (the. 

 varnish), and the mode of applying it, is and is hkely to 

 remain a secret." It had been supposed that the Japanese 

 lacquer tree was identical with a common Himalayan species 

 of IHitis. Dr. Brandis points out, however (Forest Flora, 

 page 121), that the Himalayan tree is not "known to yield 

 any varnish;" and Sir .Joseph Hooker in elaborating the 

 AnacarrUacriB for the Flora of British India (ii, page U) 

 has, in describing it under the name of Rhus iraUicliii, 

 • lecided that it is not identical with the Japanese species. 

 The lacquer varnish tree of that country is apparently un- 

 known in Lidia. It seems worth while, therefore, to ilraw 

 the attention of the Government of India to the fact, as 

 seed could doubtless be easily obtained from Japan, and 

 theie are many parts of India in which the tree could be 

 cultivated. 



In its lac industry India possesses an art which is closely 

 allied to that of lacquering. It can scarcely be doubted that 

 tlie latter is equally adapted to the methods and habits of 

 the natives Its results are, iu an economic point of view, 

 infinitely superior to those in which lac is used. 



At the instance of Sir Joseph Hooker, the Foreign Ofiice 

 caused an elaborate inquiry to be made by its officers in Japan 

 into the whole subject. The result will be foimd iu a report 

 1>V the Acting Consul at Hakodate, dated Tokio, Jatiuary 

 13tb 1S82, which has been printed and laid before Parliament. 

 I am' now to suggest that copies of this report, together 

 with this coromvmicatiou, should be printed and trausmitted 



to the Government of India, in order that some attention 

 should be attracted to the subject in that country. 



The very complete collection illustrating the report has 

 been transmitted to Kew and exhibited iu the Museum of 

 Economic Botany (No, 1), It has been pronounced by ex- 

 perts in Japanese art to be of exceptional interest and quite 

 unique of its kind. A portion of the e.xpense incurred by the 

 Foreign Office in getting it together has been defrayed from 

 the grant made to this establishmeut by the India Oflace 

 for the sustentation of the economico-botanical collections 

 relating to India. 



AVe trust some of the seeds has been sent to Ceylon, as 

 it might succeed at Hakgala and similar elevations. 



THE COFFEE SEASON IN 000R6. 



The Kev. G. Richter has furnished the Madras Agri- 

 Horticultural Society mth the f oUowiug interesting reports, 

 dated Mercara, 2.5th July 1S83:— 



With the end of .July we are in the midst of the 

 working season of the year, and may conveniently take 

 a retrospective and prospective view of agiicultura affairs in 

 Coorg with the result, that in general we may mark the 

 past with the stamp of ' cruel disappointment ' and bestow 

 on the impending crop the summary predicament of ' sub- 

 stantive hope,' and may the Supreme Giver of all good 

 things spare us from another disappointment ! I speak of 

 course chiefly of the cultivation of coffee, m which the 

 interests of the Coorg planters are centred. In my last 

 report,* dated the 1st September 1SS2, I had occasion 

 after a tour through South Coorg to wiite in high terms 

 of the remarkable freshness and luxuriance in the appear- 

 ance of the coffee trees, owing to high cultivation and the 

 very favourable season in the Bambu district, and my im- 

 pression was, as shared with many planter.?, that with few 

 exceptions, the foithcoming crop thi-oughout Ooorg seemed 

 to be a good one ; but at the actual ingathering it proved 

 a lamentable failure. From a comparative statement of 

 estimated and reaUzed crop from a number of estates, I 

 deduce the fact, that on an average only half of the 

 estimated crop was realized, and this in a year when the 

 coffee market at home had reached its lowest level for 

 years past. Agents who had to iiU chartered vessels or 

 recover heavy advances, and proprietors who had to im- 

 prove the credit side in their Banker's books importuned 

 unfortunate superintendents or managers to account for 

 the serious failure ; but I doubt whether any one has given 

 a satisfactory reply. It is said, that the want of rain in 

 April prevented the full development of the berries f j-om 

 the earlier blossom which had led to great expectations, 

 and that the succeedmg dense foUage of the trees, in. 

 duced by the heavy monsoon, prevented the planters from 

 verifying the amoimt of crop estimated on the blossom, 

 and only the picking time revealed the actual shortcoming. 

 There is, however, no fear of a repetition of the dis- 

 appointment concerning the coming crop. Planters have 

 become more knowing and more cautious in their estim- 

 ates; but the general opinioii is, that with but few ex- 

 ceptions, there is substantial ground for expecting a good 

 crop. The early March rains brought out a splendid blos- 

 som, which was supplemented in April and May, and sea- 

 sonable showers effectively accelerated a vigorous swelling 

 of the wellset berries, and imless these should drop ofE 

 by some uuforeseen calamity a good crop is ensured. The 

 weather hitherto has been all that coiUd be desired, es- 

 pecially for planting operations, light rain in Jime, but 

 ample and sustained rainfall in July, without too much 

 wind or hot simshiue. The rainfall iu Mercara was I inch 

 83 cents in March; 4-59 in April; 4-14 in May; 20-S4 iu 

 June and 4o02 up to date (25th) in July or 76 inches 

 42 cents. In 82 rainy days, the greatest amount g.auged 

 within 24 hours beiug 4 inches 75 cents on the 12th July. 

 In the Bambu, the rainfall is about one-half that of 

 Mercara. 



The flowering season of the coffee trees is always a 

 critical event, and anxiety mixed with hope and fear pre- 

 dominates till the verdict is passed: 'The blossom has 

 well set.' The normal conditions of ' a good blossom ' 

 appear to be, early showers in March to invigorate the 



* Not published iu the Society's Proceedings, but in the 

 Madras JIail of gth September 1882, 



