424 



THE TKOPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[December i, 1883. 



ably with all the region north of it as far as Costa Rica. 

 It is easy of access from the Atlantic, and will without 

 doubt be called ui^ou to seive as the great source of the 

 food supply for the isthmus and the traflic induced by 

 '.he canal. 



The western frontier of the state of Autioquia, marked by 

 the western chain of the Andes, is only 60 miles distant 

 from Qiiibdu. On entering Autioquia one sees at once that 

 it is from here that the colonists of the upper Atrato will 

 come. This comparatively small state has a population of 

 400,000, of which three-fourths are whites and one-fourth 

 mulattoes. It is a mountainous country, and its inhabitants 

 are hardy, active, and industrious, being principally de- 

 scendetl from emigrants from the north of Spain. The neat, 

 clean villages aud towns, and the evidence of industry shown 

 in the extraordinary cultivation of the rugged country, strike 

 the traveller most favourably. At present there is a tract 

 barely transitable for mules opened through the forest be- 

 tween Quibdo, on the Atrato, and the town of Bolivar, which 

 is the first of any importance on the Antioqueuan frontier. 

 The country, however, over the whole of this distance, does 

 not present any difficulties to the construction of a good 

 road or even of a railroad, as the western cordillera which 

 here divides the states of Antioquia and Cauca is uncom- 

 monly low, the height above the level of the sea being only 

 G,SoO feet. As tlie country progresses in civilization and 

 commercial importance, attention will no doubt be given to 

 this route as a means of communication between the interior 

 and the Atlantic coast, and it is probable that political 

 considerations only, arising from the fact of the road having 

 to traverse the territories of two States in which the cus- 

 toms tariffs and other laws are not entu-ely in accord, 

 have prevented this route from being selected as the pre- 

 ferable one for opening up the communications referred to. 

 A scheme has been already sketched out by Mr. Francisco 

 Javier Cisneros, 0. E., for a railroad which, traversing the 

 whole of the valley of the Patia and that of the river 

 Cauca, would communicate with the Atrato via Quibdu. 

 As the first of these rivers debouches on the Pacific coast, 

 aud the Atrato on the Atlantic, an inter-oceanic communic- 

 ation would thus be formed which would afford facilities 

 lor the whole of the interior trade of the country to be 

 carried on with the ports on either ocean. 



At the present time the Atrato valley has a population 

 of 40,000, of which one-fourth are whites, and three-fourths 

 half-caste negroes. The white population are principally 

 engaged in importing such few articles as are necessary for 

 clothing and general purposes amongst this very plain living 

 people, and they purchase the gold which is obtained by 

 the negro washers at a consideralbe profit, and export it 

 to pay for the articles which they import. The negroes 

 occupy themselves in the collection of caoutchouc, ivory-nuts, 

 sarsaparilla, and a few other natural products, and also in 

 gold-washing on a small scale, principally by streaming. Their 

 wants are few, tbay use little or no clothing, aud their 

 food consists principally of banjmas, fish, and game. 



The varied climate of the Patia valley, and its extreme 

 fertility, enable it to show an extensive list of natural and 

 cultivated vegetable produce. That comparatively delicate 

 tree, the cacao, flourishes near El C'astigo, and the vanilln, 

 a peculiarly sensitive orchid, grow wild in the greatest lux- 

 uriance, affording pods of the finest quality. Near El Castigo 

 there is a district in which the quality of the soil and the 

 special climate permit of the cultivation of tobacco which 

 rivals that of Havana. The coffee produced on the higher 

 hauls, say from 4,000 to 6,000 feet above the sea, is of fine 

 quality. Rare balsamic resins, such as Tacamahaco and 

 l^Iai'ia balsam, are found in the lower valley. Caoutchouc 

 is abundant. Amongst the trees peculiar to the special 

 climate possessed by the Patia, various dye-woods are not- 

 able, among them a valuable species of brazilwood, fii-st 

 identifiedby Professor Oliver from specimens sent homeby me. 

 So far the most valuable jn-oduct which has been exported 

 from this region, and from the mountains at the head of 

 the Cauca valley, where the celebrated Pitayo locality is 

 situated, is the cinchona bark, but unfortunately the tree 

 is rapidly becoming extinct. No super\nsion is exercised 

 by the government nor by the owners of the forests them- 

 ,selves over the labourers who are engaged in the collection 

 of the bark, and not only are the trees cut down, but even 

 the roots are dug up, and thus every chance of resuscit- 

 i\ t ioa in U^t'troycd, Ciuchoaa tretJS may^ after being cut down, 



be induced to send out saplings again if properly treated 

 It seems strange that, considering the facility with which 

 any amount of land may be acquired in these districts, no 

 effort has ever been made to cultivate the cinchona in its 

 natural habitat, whilst we see the great interest which has 

 been taken, aud the enormous sums which have been spent, 

 in endeavouring to do so in other parts of the world. I 

 beheve that a company has been occupied in this near Bogota, 

 but it is the only instance I know of in the country. Some 

 cinehona bark is still sold in this country under the name 

 of I'itvffOj but as a matter of fact not an ounce of bark 

 exists in the whole of that district, the trees having been 

 completely destroyed. The cacao trees planted near El Casti- 

 go by a wealthy Spani.sh slaveowner, at the beginning of 

 this century, cover an area of nearly 100 acres, and now 

 present quite the appearance of a forest, many of the trees 

 being upwards of liJO feet high. They still bear fruit from 

 their bases upwards, and the great En'thynaSy which were 

 originally planted to form the shade for the cacao, have long 

 since difd oft", their fallen trunks lying amongt the siu-viving 

 cacao trees. Near this plantation my men obtained from a 

 young tree growing in the woods 25 lb. weight of dry cacao 

 beans of very superior equality. The monkeys are very fond 

 of the pods, and naturally have scattered the seeds through 

 the surromiding forest; and although it is well known 

 that the cacao tree generally degenerates when left with- 

 out cultivation, this is not found to be the case in this dis- 

 trict. Near the Miuama Strait, a length of upwards of half 

 a mile on a precipitous hillside is covered with a forest 

 of Gua3'abo arrayaues — a Eugenia— in which the trees are 

 liteially overburdened with the vanilla orchid, whose long 

 creeping roots hang down from the branches, and positively 

 offer an obstacle to one's passage thiough the woods. The 

 perfume from this forest on a fine day scents the valley for 

 a considerable distance. — Flantei's' Qazeiie, 



PLANTAIN 



CULTIVATION 



Climate. 



FOR INDIA. 



The real climate for plantain is the one which has moflerate 

 cold and heat; and which has the atmospheric an loaded 

 with moisture, — in other words, humid climate. In such a 

 chmate plantain will grow, shoot and fiuit very freely ; and 

 mature its fruit altogether well. Much cold helps to retard 

 and make imperfect the processes of rHi"o^;f/?o« and evolution, 

 thereby stunting the growth of stem, luaves, and fruit: 

 and partially or wholly, according to the degi-ee of cold, 

 witldioldiug the maturity of the fruit. On the other hand, 

 much heat, by the rapid exhalation of moisture, so gieatly 

 exhausts the jilant that it has scarcely strength left to grow, 

 consequently gets perfectly scorched of the leaves and outer 

 layers of the stera-sheathes. In illustration of this subject 

 I might here add, in many partsof India, such as Nor the 

 "West Provinces, Oudh, and the Punjab, most parts of these 

 provinces, where the summer season is fearfully hot, I have 

 observed the plaintaiu so severely suffer during the season 

 that during the rains, so to speak, it has to commence 

 life afresh; and when the winter sets in, growth i eing 

 imperfect, it has no power to muster sufficient strength to 

 .send out fruit-spikes: after the winter it has again to 

 embrace the summer season which, as s;iid above, serves 

 only to destroy it, — thus, I have seen plantain growing and 

 .suft'ering, again growing and again suffering for a number 

 of years, and never, or very imperfectly fruiting, which 

 fruit never fidly developing and ripening, but getting either 

 scorched (if in the summer) or stunted (if in the winter). 



TIME OF PLANTING. 



The best and most inexpensive season for planting plant- 

 ain is when the rains have thoroughly set in, i.e., from 

 the end of -Tune to end of August. This applies to drier 

 parts of India, such as N.-W. Provinces, Oudh, the Puujab, 

 Central Provinces, &e.. but in Bengal, Assam, and British 

 Burmah, in addition to these two or two-and-a-half months, 

 February to April will be equally suitable to plantain 

 planting. Being altogether a succulent plant, having much' 

 water in its composition, the rainy season has peculiar 

 advantages for the growth of this plant, which no other 

 season, in Upper Western India, in particular, can supply, 

 In I,iu-know aud Sitapore, both Oudh districts. I hare planted 

 plantain in all parts of the year, aud grown it succe.^sfully 



