November i, 1883,] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST, 



333 



OUR BOOK SHELF. 



The Oinckona Planters' Manual. By T. 0. Owen. 



(Colombo: A. M. and J. Fergiison, 1881.) 



Few plants have been so fortunate or unfortunate in 

 bftving so much written about them as the Cinchonas. Ever 

 since their successful introduction into India, now some 

 twenty years since, the Cinchonas have had showered upon 

 them books and pamphlets innumerable, and where we find 

 such voluminous writings, it would be strange indeed were 

 there not matter of varied quality, and some that could 

 be dispensed with altogether. Mr. Owen's book is very 

 complete in the several branches of Cinchona Uterature, 

 facts gathered from various authentic sources, such as the 

 works of Dr. King, Dr. Bidie, Mr. Mclvor, and the reports 

 of the Indian and Javan Governments, all of which are 

 acknowledged by the author. 



The boot is divided into six parts, the first part being 

 devoted to the physiology of plants, gathered, as we are 

 told, from Church and Dyer's "How Crops Grow." The 

 second part treats of the alkaloids, the species and vari- 

 eties, to which a large space is given, and the next part 

 on the choice of land, felling, clearing, weeding, planting, 

 &c. In the fourth part manuring and harvesting are con- 

 sidered : and parts 5 and 6 the diseases to which Cinchonas 

 are Uable, and the estimates of Cinchona planting are 

 digested. In all these matters careful details are given. 



The book no doubt will be very useful to Cinchona 

 planters, more particularly the practical part. Its greatest 

 fault, perhaps, is the extent of the book, numbering 203 

 pages, too voluminous for many planters to wade through ; 

 but on the other hand it appeals also to those who, though 

 not actual planters, are interested in the progress of the 

 Cinchona culture. — Nature. 



drunkenness, and it is said that any one in a condition 

 of intoxication or even in delirium from it, will lie promptly 

 sobered and quieted. It is being cultivated by (lie planters 

 to some extent, and there is an increased interest in it taken 

 by the planters as a future crop of value.] 



COLA NUT. 



(Guru nut ; Ombone seed), Co?a a«<m!)W(a, R.Br. (Sterculia 

 acuminata, P. Bcauvois). Nat. Ord., Sterculiaceae. — The 

 Oola Nut tree is a native of tropical Africa, where it attains 

 a height of about forty feet. The leaves are lanceolate, 

 four to eight inches in length, one to one-and-a-half inches 

 broad. The flowers have no corolla, but a pale yellow 

 calyx, spotted with purple. The fruit is about the size of 

 a citron, and contains 5 more or less globular seeds, as 

 large as a horse chestnut, of a somewhat fleshy consistence, 

 externally of a reddish, violet, internally of a dark-violet color. 

 The taste is astringent and slightly bitter. Prof. J. Attfield 

 found the nuts to contain 42 5 starch, 633 albumen, 2 12 

 thein (caffeiue), besides gum, sugar, mineral salts, etc. Later 

 Heckel and Schlagdenhauffen found theobromine, a consider- 

 able quantity of glucose, and that caffeine exists in the 

 free state, thus combining the best qualities of caffeine aud 

 cacao. 



From time immemorial Cola Nuts have been of inestim- 

 able value to the inhabitants aud so highly prized that 

 they are used, much as cigars with us, at present to the 

 stranger or guest, as a sign of welcome, friendsiiip and pro- 

 tection ; moreover, where the nuts are not indigenous, no 

 business can be transacted without a few of them being 

 previously eaten. Formerly no marriage gift of the bride- 

 groom to the father would be deemed acceptable for the 

 purchase of his daughter, unless it comprised a consider- 

 able amount of Cola Nuts. Eiu'opeans become quickly used 

 to it. and find it quite as imperative a necessity of chew- 

 ing it as the natives themselves. This is easily explained 

 by the relatively large amount of caffeine which they con- 

 tain, the habitual use of which is necessary in the tropics. 



It is asserted that to those who chew and eat Cola Nuts, all 

 food aud drink, and even brackish water, have a pleasant 

 taste. The use of these nuts is said to support the strength, 

 allay inordinate appetite, assuage thirst aud promote di- 

 gestion. They are further stated to render those using 

 them capable of prolonged fatigue, in the same manner as 

 coca leaves. — A New Idea. 



[Note on Cola iiy Editoh. — In our recent visit to the 

 West Indies, we found the Cola Nut (Bi^y-Bin;/) quite 

 oft>^n offered for sale by the negroes in the market place 

 at Kingston. The fruit is not so large as a citron, the pod 

 being somewhat triangular and somewhat curved like the 

 letter S ; the color is dull green, aud it rarely contains more 

 than three seeds. It is esteemed in Jamaica as a cure for 

 43 



TILLAGE AND EVAPORATION. 



A few years ago a contemporary announced with great 

 positivcness the discovery that cultivation of the surface 

 soil promotes instead of retarding evaporation, and is, 

 therefore, labour worse than wasted, so far as it had 

 previously been supposed to help in retaining moisture. 

 Experiments by Professor Stockbridge, of Amherst, were 

 subsequently published, which seemed sufficient to confute 

 the position above referred to, and to establish the cor- 

 rectness of previous teachings on the subject. Aud now 

 Dr. Sturtevant, of the Slate Experiment station at Gen- 

 eva, reports the following experiments, which is similar 

 in result to those of Professor Stockbridge, though not 

 conducted in precisely the same manner : — '* The question 

 of drought is one which periodically engages attentioii, 

 and any means by which its injurious effect may be 

 mitigated should certainty be known to the farmer. That 

 cultivation by forming a loose soil upon the surface which 

 acts as a mulch, conserves the water to the soil, is a 

 fact which is well established, and should be more com- 

 monly appreciated. For the purpose of offering numerical 

 values which shall express the influence of cultivation, we 

 have tried the following experiment : — Oak boxes of 1 

 cubic foot capacity were made of half-inch stuff and 

 thoroughly soaked with oil. The bottom b'nng removed, 

 the frame was worked down into tlic earth in the corn 

 field, and the bottom afterwards put in position. AVe thus 

 had a foot cube of soil in its natural position. The siu"- 

 face of the earth in one box was left undisturbed, while 

 the surfaces of two boxes were kept cultivated. By weigh- 

 ing these boxes the gain or loss is assumed to measure 

 the evaporation which has taken place from each. From 

 26th July to 1st August, six days, the cultivated soil 

 evaporated at the rate of 906 gallons per acre less than 

 the undisturbed soil, or less 151 gallons daily per acre. 

 From 1st August to 10th August, nine days, the cultivated 

 soil evaporated 2,367 gallons per acre less than did the 

 undisturbed soil, or less than 263 gallons daily per acre. 

 During the whole period, from July 26 to August 10, fifteen 

 days, the saving of water effected through cultvation figured 

 up 212 gallons daily per acre, or, expressing these facts 

 in anotlier from, the undisturbed soil lost j'cr acre from 

 July 26 to August 10. 4.243 gallons; the cultivated soil 1,060 

 gallons. In calculating our results to the acre by multply- 

 ing the evaporation which has taken place from a square 

 foot of surface by 43,560, the unavoidable errors are cor- 

 respondingly multiplied, and while duplicate s ries can never 

 be expected to give precisely the same numerical results, 

 yet the one fact becomes unquestionable- that through 

 cultivation we are enabled to conserve to th ■ soil a large 

 amount of water during a drought. Inde' <1, observation 

 through extended periods of drought, also plaiuly shows 

 the superiority of fields that have been well cultivated over 

 those where cultivation has been neglects d. Cultivator 

 and Country Gentleman. [Are we to accept the converse 

 of the proposition and abstain from cu'livating soils 

 which suffer from wet ? — Ed.] 



A TREE YIELDING BALSAM OF C >PAIBA IN 

 THE GHAT FORESTS OF CO )KG. 



This promises to be a valuable discovery, Its history 

 is rather a curious one. Mr. A. L. Tod, who for some years 

 has been resident in these forests, happened nn a tree two 

 or three years ago, which when cut into yielded an oily 

 liquid, which gushed out copiously from fi-sures in the 

 heart of the tree. He did not think much nf it at the 

 time, but a month or two ago, I shewed him a compil- 

 ation of information all about rubbers, publislied by Messrs. 

 A. M. and J. Ferguson of Colombo, the edito:s of that use- 

 ful periodical, Tlie Tropical AijncidturiAt. Amongst ilie 

 various papers about rubbers collected in their little book 

 is one by &Ir Cross relating his experiences whilst hunting 

 up CJeara and Para rubbers, and also a shnr!, account of 

 the Balsam of Copaiba tree. On reading this Mr. Tod said 



