December r, 1883.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



45 1 



VEGETABLE PHYSIOLOGY, AND COFFEE 



PLANTING: SCIENCE REQUIRED TO 



GET GOOD CROPS. 



Der SiE, — If co£Fee planters, in general, were more 

 familiar with the aoieuce of vegetable physiology, and 

 had a knowledge of the organization and the vital 

 functious of the coffee tree, and were able to tell the 

 reqiiirements of tho shrub, and what was necessary for 

 the formation of leafage and flower, and how the 

 elements necessary for their increase be assimilated 

 so as to enable plants to absorb the required nutri- 

 ment, I am certain that it [Coffee? — Ed. C. 0.] would 

 reproduce crops that would startle even the nierclMiUs 

 out of their shells. 



If vegetation is to be treated, as if it was inorganic 

 matter, it 's but natural that it will be inanimate, its 

 vitality gone, and therefore yield nothing. 



Numbers pooh-pooh science, as being unnecessary for 

 agricultural purposes — saying that commonsense atid 

 experience are sufficient — but science, is indispensable 

 for bringing vegetation to perfection, and, added to 

 experience, any ailment that vegetable vitality suiferu 

 from, might be cured.* 



Having made these remarks, I think it well to 

 explain how plants derive their food. 



The food of plants is partly deduced from the 

 soil, and to some degree from the air, but it is re- 

 quisite that whatever plants require, must either be 

 reducd to a liquid, or gaseous state, before it can 

 be taken up by the organs of nutrition. Now there 

 are four elements which constitute a plant, viz: — 

 carbon, oxygeni, hydrogan and nitrogen.- 



By this several questions arise, as to the best 

 way of supplying coffee shrubs with what they 

 require, and this can only be taught, by the study 

 of vegetable physiology and chemistry, t — Yours faith- 

 fully, ARISTO. 



QUININE FROM TAR. 



Edinburgh, 30th October 1883. 

 Dear Sir, — Annexe 1 is a quotation from Chambem's 

 Journal of October 27tb, from which you will see, 

 that cinchona will §oon be abandoned, if the quot- 

 ation should jyroiv. correct ? Perhaps you might favor 

 us with your opinion. — Yours triily, 



P. D. MILLIE. 



INDIA OKOP AND AVEATHEE REPORT. 



Quinine from Gas-Tae. 



"A long series of experiments carried on by Pro- 

 fessor FishiT, an eminent chemist of Munich, has re- 

 sulted in the discovery of a white powder, in the 

 residuum of gas-tar, wliich contains all the medical 

 properties of quinine, added to the advantage that it 

 assimilates more easily with the digestiv'e organs than 

 quinine itself. It has been proved to be wonderfully 

 efficacious, in subduing fever, ice being unnecessai'y. 



" One great advantage of this discovery will be 

 the cheap rate at which it can be sold, by which 

 means it would be brought within the reach of these 

 poor people who require quinine but who find it 

 difficult to purchase such an expensive drug." 



[Tar has yielded sweet perfumes and beautiful dyes, 

 but we cert:iinly do not believe in its adding a perfect 

 substitute for quinine. — Ed.] 



* Indeed ! The liighest science of our time, however, 

 has failed to cure the potato and coffee fungi or the vine 

 insect. We quite believe in the benefits of science : but 

 before many of the "aihuents of vegetable vitahty" it 

 is perfectly helpless, and candidly confesses the fact. — 

 En. 



t This learned correspondent ought at once to take out 

 a patent for his wonderful discovery. We hope he will 

 use science practically so as to make coffee ''rej^ro- 

 duce" crops fit to startle merchants out of their shells. 

 — Eb, 



For the Week ending the 6th Nov. 1883. 



General Remarks. — There has been heavy rain diuring the 

 past week in the coast districts of the Madras Presidency 

 which has inundated the crops in parts, but general pro- 

 spects continue good in Madras and Mysore. Rain has a'so 

 fallen throughout Deocau and Southern Mahratta Coun- 

 try, doing slight injury to standiug crops in several dis- 

 tricts. Great scarcity of water prevails in Kurachee, and 

 locusts are destructive in three districts of the Deccan. 

 Rain is needed in Ulwar, otherwise the report from Cen- 

 tral India and liajputana are favourable. 



No rain fell in Assam and very little in Burma, and 

 more is wanted in both for the rice crop, but general pro- 

 spects are good. 



Slight and partial showers have occurred in the Central 

 and Southern parts of Bengal, which have done some good, 

 but, except in the Eastern districts and Cooch.Eehar and 

 Jalpaiguri, the greater part of the rice crop on high lauds 

 has been already destroyed, and the crops on low lands 

 are in a critical condition. Rabi sowings are also seri- 

 ously impeded. In the Central Provinces the outlook con- 

 tinues favourable, although some injury has been caused 

 to cotton and linseed by cloudy weather. In the North- 

 western Provinces and Oudh and Punjab prospects arc fair, 

 but raiu is much needeel for the rabi in both Provinces, 



Harvesting of the kharif is still in progress in most pro- 

 vinces, and the outturn has generally proved to be under 

 the average, llabis owings are also progressing and promise 

 fairly well, except in Bengal. 



Cholera in a sporadic form exists in Madras and parts 

 of Northern India, and fever is prevalent, otherwise the 

 public health is fair. 



Prices continue to rise in Bengal. 



Madras. — General prospects good. 



British Jiitrmu. — Public health good. No increase of cat- 

 tle-disease. Rainfall for the week and up to date very 

 deficient compared with last year. Crops on the low-lyiug 

 lauds progressing favourably. The Liter paddy and the 

 crops on high lands suffering in parts from want of rain. 

 On the whole the outlook appears more favoiu-able than 

 was reported last week. Price of paddy keeps steady. 



Asiaiii (Gauhati.) — Weather seasonable. Mornings and 

 nights cool and foggy. Rain much needed for rice crop 

 Laud being ploughed for mustard. Public health fair. 



Mysore a/ul Coort/. — Rain has fallen generally throughout 

 the province ; Kolah. 5*4ti ; Chickmagalur, 2'82. Standing 

 crops in good condition. Agricultural operations in fair 

 progress. Pro.spects satisfactory. Prices stationary. Pub- 

 lic health good. — Pioneer. 



RuuBEE Cdltivation : Mh. Gilliat's KxPEKurENT. — In 

 my th-st experiment on September llth,I tapped only 3 trees, 

 ago about 3 to o| years old, i cuts each tree, and the 

 result was average ^ of an oz. of di-y rubber per tree. The 

 same trees were tapped again on the 18th September, result 

 just over ^ of an ounce jaer tree, and I have no doubt I 

 can tap i.3 times a year without injury to the tree. I have 

 one tree, near my bungalow which was tapped 6 times in 

 the month (only 14 months old) and which gave 1 l-lUth 

 oz. I shall tap if; again this month, as it shows no signs 

 of exhaustion, and will let you know the results. If " W." 

 fii'st removes all the bark off the trees before commencing 

 to tap, I am at a loss to know how a cooly can do 300 

 trees a day, as, with my knife, where there is no removal 

 of bark necessary, I now consider 100 trees a day good 

 work. Dr. Ti-imeu and myself, on Tuesday last, examined 

 the trees that have been experimented upon, and he ex- 

 pressed himself thoroughly pleased with the wa.y in which 

 the cut .shall closed, many of them quite healed uji ; and 

 ho thought that, in another two or three months, they 

 might bo re-cut. I beUeve now that the best way to treat 

 the milk after collection is to jilace it in a sort" of tray, ' 

 with an even, uniform heat under it by means of small 

 lamps or jets with kerosine oil. I have such a lamp, with 

 14 small burners, with a tray on the top of it, and, in 

 heating a bottle and a half of milk, I found I did not use 

 more than about b cents worth of ki-rosino oil. The heat 

 seems to drive off all the impurities of the rubber, and to 

 leave it comparatively dry and wliitc. H. A. GiLIiIAT. 

 Ptradeuiya, Nov. 11th, 1883.— Local "Times." 



