THE TKOPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[JU!fE 2, l8Ji4. 



MR. HALLILEY'S WEED MANIA. 



Dear Sir,— I notice Mr. Howie's letter. * * * Perhaps 

 Mr. Howie may not be aware that Mr. E. H. Cameron 

 lived on Rahatnu<;oda with his father, I believe previous 

 to lS6t. Is Mr. Howie writing against his own experi- 

 ence or does he not believe in his own conviction ? Sup- 

 posing a piece of land had been cheuaed, part of it 

 only a year previous and part twanty years before, 

 which part would he chose to form a plantation ? Un- 

 doubtedly that part with the twenty years' growth 

 on it, because the decayed vej^etable matter of twenty 

 years'must have improved the soil. If plants only re- 

 turned to the soil what they had taken from it they 

 could in no way improve the soil, but plants derive 

 some of their component parts from the atmosphere, 

 and it is what they derive from the atmosphere 

 added to what they derive from the soil that improves 

 the soil. So that if plants derive more of their com- 

 ponent parts from the atmosphere what better plant 

 can we cultivate among our coffee to regulate the 

 moisture and to keep up a constant supply of food 

 than the plant, that we have been told, contains the 

 very essential food of the coffee-tree ? Where weeds 

 will not grow, coffee will not thrive. It is now ac- 

 knowledged that the oidium — a similar disease to our 

 leaf-disease— was through not allowing anything to 

 grow in between the vines. There is no country in 

 the world where coffee has been cultivated as it has 

 been for some years past in Ceylon, and I think it 

 must be acknowledged that it has proved a failure. 

 Coffee thoroughly neglected will become diseased and 

 coffee after giving a succession of good crops ni.iy 

 become diseased through the weeds not being able tn 

 •upply sufficient food* in proportion to what has been 

 taken away. — Yours truly, G. F. HALLILEY. 



[The subject has now been fully discussed, and Mr. 

 Halliley must be "shut up" on the same principle 

 that the inmate of the lunatic asylum was— " I believed 

 the whole world to be mad ; they believed me to 

 be mad, and they being in the majority shut me up." 

 Amongst the majority is Ed. T. A.] 



THE NORTHERN TERRITORY. 

 Pearling. — The principal excitement here at present 

 lain connection with the pearl-shell fishery. For years 

 past a few pearl shells have been found at various times 

 both in the harbour and along tie coast. This gave 

 rise to the hope that at some future time a payable 

 bed would be found, no one imagining that beds of 

 such a character could be found immediately at their 

 doors, and the idea was further removed owing to 

 the fact that on two previous occasions the harbour 

 had been visited by vessels fully equipped with 

 swimming divers, and who prospected Port Darwin 

 waters without success. This prospecting must have 

 been done in a careless manner, for upon the arrival 

 of the pearling schooner "Sree Pas Sair " on February 

 16th last with a coiiiplement of sixty divers, they 

 were immediately set to work in a systematic manner, 

 and in a few days succeeded in obtaining about one- 

 and-a-half tons of shell. After this the men could 

 not be worked to advantage, owing to the increased 

 depth of water shells were obtainable in, and the 

 vessel was not provided with diving dresses. The 

 succeseattending the "JSree Pas Sair" immediately awak- 

 ened a keen local interest in diving matters, and a 

 local Company, in which previously no great amount 

 of interest was taken, completed arrangements, and 

 set to work with two boats and diving dre.sses. A 

 few days afterwards three more boats equipped in the 

 same manner arrived from Thuisday Island, since 

 when these five boats have been steadily at work, 

 and lip to the present time have been very successful. 

 Up U date, as near ae 1 can ascertain, about twelve 



tons of shell have been obtained by these boats, Tiie 

 credit of pointing out that shell could be obtain d 

 80 close at home certainly belongs to Lieutenant Chip- 

 pendale, commander of the " Sree Pas Sair." This gt-i- 

 tleman believes that large quantities of shell are < b- 

 taiuable near at hand, but that principally they w dl 

 not be obtained by using diving dresses, the shells 

 lying too deep for swimmers. On the 9th of last 

 month a large deputation, representative of those 

 having a considerable interest in the pearl-ttshing, re- 

 presented that the licence tax imposed by the Gov- 

 ernment upon pearling boats was excessive and liable 

 to check of the growth of the industry. Up to that 

 time no success of any importance had attended the 

 boats, consequently the proprietors were.nit in the 

 best of spirits, but in a very few days, when fortune 

 began to dawn upon their efforts, a diffeient spirit 

 existed. 1 do not think that any one now considers 

 the tax otherwise than fair. There is no doubt that 

 in a very short time Port Darwin will have a very 

 large fleet engaged in this industry and a 

 large increase to our local population. Consequent 

 upon this it will be absolutely necessary to have a 

 larger Police Force stationed here. It is well-known, 

 and one need not go further than Thursday Island 

 to be aware of the fact, that a diving community 

 are rather a troublesome lot to manage. If they are 

 dealt with here strictly from the commencement a 

 great deal of otherwise ultimate trouble would be 

 avoided. On all pearling grounds it is well-known 

 that the pearls found in the shells are purloined by 

 the divers and .surreptitiously sold. The losses to the 

 owners of boats from this source is very considerable. 

 The trouble in prosecuting lying in the fact that the 

 pearls cannot he identitieit, I would suggest that, for 

 the purpose of supervising this offence to as great an 

 extent as possible, a law be enacted prohibiting any 

 one from either buying or selling pearls within the 

 limits of the Northern Territory without a licence, 

 punishing any infringement with a heavy fine or im- 

 prisonment. Such a law would, I believe, be of great 

 benefit in protecting those who invest money in pearl- 

 fishing. There is also another matter to which I would 

 direct your attention, viz., that of protecting the be'is 

 upon which the oysters are found from denudation. 

 1 am credibly infornied that both in Western Aus- 

 tralia and Torres Straits beds that were originnUy 

 very prolific hfive been completely destroyed owing 

 to the fact that they have been robbed of the young 

 oysters even down to two inches in diameter, thus 

 preventing any chance of recovery. I an\ not pre- 

 pared to say what ought to be the least weight of 

 the shells allowed to be taken from the water, but 

 this might be ascertained from someone who kiows 

 more of the science of the subject than nijself. What 

 I wish to point out clearly is that pearl oyster-beds 

 if honestly fished over recover themselves in from 

 five to seven years, on a great length of coast such 

 as the Northern Territory possessions, and along which 

 it is only reasonable to suppose many beds will be 

 found, and which if properly protected will be a 

 never-ending source of revenue to the country, and 

 afford occupation for a very large number of people. 

 — SoiUh Auelralian Register, May 8th. 



LKonMiKous Plant Febtilisees. — Sir .T. B. Lawes, the 

 gi-eat English scientific aud practical farmer, reasons from 

 experiments in this style : — To obtain maximum crops of 

 grain the proper course to pursue is to precede them with a 

 crop of leguminious plants, that is, peas, clover, vetches, 

 &c., to which the minerals should l)e applied, and this en- 

 ables these plants to make an unusual growth which renders 

 them capable of .storing up a large amount of ammonia — 

 more than is necessary for the grain crop that follows— and 

 the Latter by this active stimulant is rendered capable of 

 obtaining all the minerals required from the soil .and the 

 decaying vegetation for luaximum crops. — Leader, 



