JtTNB 2, 1884.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



917 



Prom Queensland Mr. Pink wrote : — 

 " I think there is uo advantage iia growing Cofiea 

 Lilerica here at present, as the leaf disease is unknown, 

 and Cojfea Andnca does well, producing at the rate of 

 6 cwt. per acre. There are now in this colony a 

 number of coffee planters from Ceylou who are anxious 

 to go into coffee growing here, and the Minister of 

 Lauds is about to have a quantity of suitable land re- 

 served for that purpose. The small farmers are Ukewise 

 just discovering that coffee pays better tlian com and 

 potatoes when there is a family of children to pick the 

 berries. Several farmers have lirought and sold to the 

 merchants of Brisbane green coffee berries at the rate of 

 lOd. per lb. this season. Consequently the demand for 

 plants has become very great, but fortunately we have 

 an equally large supply on hand to meet it, both of Lilufica 

 and Arahica^^ 



The great fear, we may Bay the absolute cert, 

 ainty, is that leaf-disease, which exists in Ceylou, 

 in Mauritius anfl Fiji, vvill sooner or later aBect 

 coffee grown in Queensland. 



Reference is made to the system initiated by Mr. 

 Morris in Jamaica of instructing " cadets " in ciu- 

 cliona cultivation and natives as foremen of estates. 

 Dr. King long ago laid down; the principle, that, 

 where forcing houses were necessary, cinchona cultiv- 

 ation had better be abandoned. Here in Ceylon 

 cuttings of succirubra and officinalis were from the 

 first grown in ihe open-air at Hakgala, but in .Tamaica 

 it appears that for many years elaborate and costly 

 heating apparatus were in use by Mr. Nock, now 

 <loing sucn excellent work at Hakgala. Mr. Morris 

 iutroduced the open-air system he had seen in Cey- 

 lou, and Mr. Nock loyally carried it out. The notice 

 of Seychelles »e quote in full : — 



Seychelles.— These interesting' but little known islands 

 appear to a'dmit of a great variety of tropical cultures. 

 I am indebted to Mr. C. Button, the Conservator of the 

 Crown Lauds and Forests, for the following notes upon 

 the agriculture of the past year : — 



The principal revenues of these islands are coconuts and 

 coconut oil ; the latter is manufactured on all the princi- 

 pal islands as well as in Mahc. Since the year 1880, 

 three different diseases have seriously affected the trees, 

 principally iu the south part of Jlahe, where several 

 large forests have been de.stroyed in a very short time, 

 and had it not been for the young coconut trees begin- 

 ning to bear, the diminution of the production, which 

 was actually about 25 per cent would have beeu more 

 than 60 per cent. 



Since the end of the year 1882, the diseases liave nearly 

 stopped their depredations, a very few trees only have 

 died since ; the production of tliis year will show a 

 much larger quantity than that of last year, as 

 all the old trees are recovering their vigour, and a great 

 number of young coconut trees are coming into bearing. 



Vanilla is now culti%-ated with success, in every locality 

 in Mahe, and also on -some of the islands, and everywhere 

 I have met with some small plantations ; a few proprietors, 

 however, have lately planted on a scale averaging 12 or 1.5 

 acres each. 



Cocoa was formerly cultivated with success at Mahe, 

 and afterwards abandoned ; but some new plantations 

 have lately been made, and will, before long, add to the 

 revenue of these islands. 



Cloves, which were also formerly cultivated and planted 

 iu valleys where the soil was too rich, with a space of no 

 more than five or six feet between them, grew with such 

 rapidity that some trees attained a height of sixty feet, 

 and the cloves could not be collected without cutting down 

 branches, which, undoubtedly, is of great injury to the trees, 

 and keeps them sometimes two years without bearing, 

 until new branches have sprouted. If cloves were planted 

 in poorer soil, and the trees stopped at a certain height, 

 cloves could be collected without injuring the trees and 

 their beariug would be much more productive every year. 

 A large portion of clove trees which existed formerly 

 have been destroyed without any consideration whatever, 

 for the purpose of making timbers f)r houses and also 

 fircH ijod. AVhat remains actually amount to about 250 acres. 



The cinnamon which grows here is said to be of an 

 inferior quality. I sent some specimens twice to Eui'ope, 

 where it was not favourably reported upon ; but its strength 

 and aroma led me to think that its inferiority can only be 

 due to the mode of preparation. 



Liberian Coffee has also been cultivated since 1880 ; the 

 first plants were sent from Kew and distributed 

 among a few planters by Mr. C. S. Salmon, then 

 Chief Civil Commissioner. They grew very rapidly, and 

 those planted in proper soil, and entirely exposed to 

 the sun, began to bear before two years old, while others 

 in rich ground, and at a short distance from other trees, 

 grew with more vigour, but only began to bear long 

 after. It has been propagated in different localities, and 

 everywhere seems to prefer an open situation where it 

 bears abundantly. The quantity lately planted may amount 

 to about lOU acres. 

 We also quote the portion about cacao : — 



Cocoa. — The notices iu the Kew Jieport for 1881, pp. 

 27, 28, have brought me several interesting communic- 

 ations. 



OOLOifBlA. — Mr. R. B. White, of Medellin, has furnished 

 me, January 13, 1883, with the following interesting partic- 

 ulars as to the conditions of its cultivation in the United 

 States of C jlombia ; — 



" Soil. — The cocoa tree exhausts the soil very rapidly. 

 It requires a good, rich, and thick stratum of vegetable 

 soil, which should overlie gravel or some open substratum. 

 Stagnant moisture round the roots is prejudicial to cocoa 

 At the same time it requires so much moisture that 

 sloping ground does not suit it. In dry seasons and dry 

 climates irrigation should be judiciously employed. 



" Disease. — In Antioquia, United States of Colombia,. 

 South America, the cocoa plantations have been nearly 

 ruined by a fungus which attacks the tree in a similar 

 way as Heinileia vastatrLc does the coffee. The leaves ap- 

 pear spotted, then turn brown, shrivel up, and finally the 

 tree looks as if it had beeen scorched. If the tree is 

 in flower, the buds fall off, but if it is already in fruit, 

 the pods shrivel and wither and the beans become 

 mouldy and dry up. Hundreds or perhaps thous,inds of 

 acres of plantations have been destroyed by this plague. 

 No remedy has been found. The planter's resource is to 

 clear the ground, lime it well, and then replant from 

 new and sound seed, taking great care afterwards to 

 prune away and destroy every branch or tree in which 

 the disease may appear. It is behoved that the disease 

 was first induced by careless and iudi.scriminate irrig- 

 ation during a season when the air was more humid than 

 usual. 



" The cocoa is such a delicate tree that the growth of 

 the finest mosses and lichens on its bark affects its 

 health. At the proper season tlie stem and brandies 

 should be cleaned by wiping them with a rough cloth or 

 sacking. Parasitic plants are very fond of the cocoa, and 

 are, of course, fatal to it. They should be exterminated. 



" ahmle. — The reason why lirythrina is preferred as a 

 shade tree for the cocoa, is because it abstracts from 

 the soil different elements to those which the cocoa re- 

 quires. In fact, it is used on the same principle as that 

 on which alternative crops are employed. The Guanco 

 or Inqa is as moderate in its demands upon the soil as 

 Erythrinay but it spreads too much in proportiou to its 

 height. Erythrina throws out its branches well above 

 the cocoa trees. Bananas should only be employed for 

 a couple of years after the cocoa is planted out. They ex- 

 Iiaust the soil and harbour damp. In adopting a tree 

 like Manihot for shade, the above considerations ought 

 not to be lost sight of. 



" Climate. — Although cocoa will grow in a hot and very 

 damp climate like Guayaquil or the Atrato ^■alley, yet 

 it is found in Colombia that it grows best where the 

 temperature (mean) is 20 ° centigrade, and wliere the 

 two dry and two wet seasons are well marked in the 

 year. It is possible or probable too, that a dry season 

 affords a better opportunity of preparing the bean for the 

 market." 



Mr. Jean Van Volxem, of Brussels, also sends me, 

 January 27th, 1883, the followiug remarks as the result 

 of his observations in New Grenada: — 



" To judge properly of the quality of cocoa beans in 

 I comparison with those found already in trade, atttjutiou 



