January i, 1884.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



469 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST : A KEX^EW. 



(Communicated.) 



21st Nov. 1883. 

 A'olume II of this useful periodical lies before me, 

 and scattered through its 1,008 closely -printed pages 

 s a veritable fund of mforraation. A |rapid glance 

 through the copious and well-arranged index informs 

 us that we may " inquire within " for instruction on 

 the following amongst hundreds of other subjects 

 scattered througliout the book, viz. : — Ants, America, 

 Beans, Borneo, Cacao Coffee. Cloves, Canada, China, 

 Dogs, Demerara, Fungi, Fiji, Giugerheer, Grenada, 

 Hay, Hawaii, ludigo, Italy, Java, Jamaica, Japan, 

 Leeches, Lucknow, Mango, Manitoba, Madagascar, 

 Malacca, Morocco, Nutmegs, Natal, New Guinea, New 

 Products, New Zealand, New Remedies, New York> 

 Oats, Oysters, Oranges, Pigs, Potatoes, Pernambuco, 

 Penang, Quicksands, Quinine, Queensland, Rainfall, 

 Rice Cultivation, Reunion, Russia, Sulphur, .Sea-Sick- 

 ness, Sumatra, St. Helena, Tea, Teneriffe, Vines, 

 Walnuts, Wyuaad, Zanzibar. It is not surprizing 

 therefore to find that appreciative notices of the Trop- 

 ical Agriculturist have been received from many 

 quarters of the world, including London, Scotland, East 

 and West Indies, Africa and Australia. 



The leading priiducts of our island are discussed in 

 1,013 articles distributed as follows : — 



Coffee (King) ... 363 articles 



Ciuchoua ... 299 ,, 



Tea (Queen) ... 180 „ 



Indiarabber ... 69 „ 



Cacao ... 48 ,, 



Cinnamom (Raja) ... 3-5 ,, 



Coconuts (Rani) ... 20 ,, 



To review the whole volume would occupy too much 

 space, so I confine myself more particularly to the 

 numbers for April, May and June. Page 773 naturally 

 opens "about tea," and Informs us that at a recent 

 sale in London 42 chests of Ceylon tea were sold at 

 prices ranging from Is 7d to 23 per lb. A great future 

 certainly lies before the successful Ceylon tea maker, 

 and, if war should break out between China and France, 

 we may look for better prices still. Mr Bosanquet 

 (p. 778) gives sound ad\"ice as to manuring coffee. 

 This is after all a very ancient mode of cultivation. 

 See story of "barren figtree" writt>-n 1850 years ago. 

 Where the coftee trees are not barren there the less 

 they are tampered with the better ; but where the 

 soil is nattirally bad, or has become exhausted, there 

 the want of lulkij cattle and other manure, mixed 

 with fertilizers in extreme cases, is indicated. Strong 

 artificial manures, if used alone, may give the trees a 

 "spurt," but may speedily be followed by a total 

 collapse. Weeds must be removed, Mr. Halliley to 

 the contrary notwithstanding (p. 805). When coffee 

 trees are ready to die of starvation, it would seem to 

 be worse than madness to allow a "carpet of weeds" 

 to hasten the end by absorbing the little good still 

 left in the soil. Weeds are compared to the "governor 

 of a steam-engine." This illustration might be appro- 

 priate where thejtrees are likely to suffer from over rich- 

 ness of the soil, but as in an engine where the supply 

 of steam is deficient the governor is useless, and, even 

 if it acted, would do more harm than good, so on most 

 estates in Ceylon what we want is to husband our 

 strength and all our resources for proper ti.se, and not 

 to let any escape. Mr. Halliley wishes us to believe 

 in weeds because "Old Cabragalla" in the days of old 

 gave large crops in spite of the weeds. Most estates 

 gave large crops then — the average exports of coffee 

 for five years ending 1871 was 973,975 cwt. The 

 question is, can old Cabragalla, or old anything else, 

 now be brought to bear heavy crops by spreading over 

 the land a " carpet of weeds " ? If so, then we may 



expect Rakwana and other districts to flourish again ; 

 for on all the abandoned estates, weeds are the order 

 of the day. No, Mr. Halliley, it you want " crops," 

 you may "boulder" your estate or you may "stone" 

 it, but you must not " weed " it. Mr. Halliley re- 

 turns to the charge (p. 864). His remarks on over- 

 pruning are worthy of notice, but what is over — 

 pruning ? The object of pruning is two-fold. To 

 revive the tree, and to help it to put forth its powers 

 in the right direction. Ergo, all the long whippy 

 branches should be taken oil' so as to relieve the tree 

 of the necessity of supporting yards and yards of use- 

 less wood. The nearer the blossom and fruit to the 

 main stem, the better for botli the crop and the tree. The 

 article on New Ceylon by Von Donop (p. 829) is in. 

 teresting reading, but "Old Ceylon" is not quite 

 played out yet, and those who stick to the old love 

 will find themselves better off in the loug run. 

 Cacao curers will study with profit Mr. .Shand's able 

 article on p. 848. Lowcormtry products are ably 

 discussed on pp. 858-61. The writer speaks of Liber- 

 ian coffee, cacao, fruit-trees leaf-disease, crops, etc., 

 etc., on DelgoUa, OdapoUa and Liberian estates. 

 Timber for tea boxes is referred to in an article 

 on p. 881. The advice to plant suitable fast-grow- 

 ing timber trees is sound and worthy of the con- 

 sideration of all whom it may concern. On p. 885. 

 arrowroot and cassava are spoken of. To those about 

 to plant either of these products we say in the 

 language of Punch "Don't." And we tender 

 similar adWce to those who may think of emi- 

 grating to Manitoba (p. 893). 80 in the shade in 

 Ceylon is preferable to 19 m the sun at Manitoba, 

 especially, to those who have any regard for their 

 noses and ears ! Coconut-growing in Queensland 

 (p. 904). It is very questionable whether trees which 

 love a hot moist climate can be cultivated \vith 

 success in Australia: an attempt on a small scale 

 seems to have been made at JIackay (p. 170). Dr. 

 Trimen's report for 1882 (p. 913) and Mr. Monis- 

 report on Jamaica for same year (p. 939) are interes- 

 ing and valuable papers. NIREFONOS. 



COFFEE AND NATIVES IN THE NEW 

 HEBRIDES. 



The following interesting extracts are from one of 

 "The Vag.ibond's " letters to the Argus dated August 

 25th from New Hebrides ; — 



Robd's Anchor.\ge, August 25th. Mr. Glissan's 

 homestead at Rathmoi is a building eminently adapted 

 to the climate. The thick walls are formed of a con- 

 rete of coral line, and the roof is of thatch. A broad 

 cera.ndah runs round the house. The garden is well 

 valtivated, containing some magnificent specimens of 

 oiotons, of which no less than 24 different vaiietiea 

 care found on this island. The walks are of crushed 

 coral. There are trophies of shells, and there is a 

 gencf.Tl care in the surroundings which speaks of a 

 refined feminine taste. There is a beautiful outlook 

 over sea and land. We are received most hospitably, 

 and Mrs. Gliesan busies herself in preparing a wel- 

 come breakfast, including fragrant coffee grown on the 

 Siveree estate and fried jungle-chicken, young of the 

 domestic fowl run wild in the wood*, and shot by 

 the "boys" in the coffee fields. It is very like phea- 

 sant in its flavour. Mr. Glissan is an old Queensland 

 pioneer. He has been settled at Siveree for some 12 

 years, and bis opinions are worth having. Convers- 

 ing «u the annexation question, he expresses himself 

 favourable to French rule. It will give the residents 

 here law, order, and protection. He would prefer a 

 connexion with the colonies, but certainly not with 

 Fiji. The statement that " the powers o( the High 

 Commissioner will be enlarged, he views with mis' 

 trust. His vievr, as that of every man I have met 



