Februabt I, 18S4.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



535 



the bushes, placing it so as to be hoeil in, between the 

 Hues; it would not have the effect of being too powerful 

 ill heating the bush. I quite agree «ath all who manure, 

 that it revigorates the soil, adds fresh vigour into bushes 

 which have had previous hoeing promiscuously, plucked 

 year after year, nothing put into the soil, but all taken 

 out, thereby gradually impoverishing and making the land 

 quite sterile, laying it open to the attack of all pests. 

 What would be the consequence to farmers at home if 

 they tried t© take crop after crop off their farms, and 

 not fertilize their lauds either by manuring or di-aining. 

 Tbe result would be do^vnright failm-e. Drain oiiiy such 

 lands whirh require /f. and have good cultivation, and there 

 is little chance of being much troubled with the red spider, 

 " Acarus," Lall Makee. — Indian Tea Gazette. 



Oranue Trees. — Mr. 'William Saunders, in an oflacial 

 report to the United States Department of Agriculture at 

 AVashington, mentions having seen a large tree in Florida, 

 from which as many as 10,000 Oranges had been picked 

 in one season; the crop for this year, which had recently 

 been taken from it, amounted to 7,800 oranges. — Ganlenei's' 

 Chronicle. 



VE(iETATIOV OF THE ISTHMUS OF PAVAMA. — The follow- 

 ing description of the vegetation of the Isthmus of Panama 

 is given in a recent report from that country. The isth- 

 mus is covered with thick vegetation, the wonderful verd- 

 ure grows pell-mell, the vanety and luxuriance are mar- 

 vellous. Great trees overshadow an interminable and 

 impenetrable jungle of lesser growth, made up of an end- 

 less number of nameless plants and vines, all pushing, 

 struggling, clambering towards the light. The flora is 

 perfectly gorgeous and bewildering in beauty aud variety. 

 The solar rays cannot penetrate such layers of thick foli- 

 age, and the soil always remains saturated. Emanations 

 and effluvia which arise from the siurface being debarred 

 of the sun (which extracts dampness and destroys decayed 

 vegetaljle and organic matter) are the main cause of the 

 various kinds of fevers in the country, such as yellow, 

 typhus, malignant, remittent, and intermittent. The only 

 specific used by medical men is quinine ; the natives nse 

 a bitter Tamarisk (?), of which they make a febrifuge. 

 There were 130 lb. of quinine used last year on the Isth- 

 mus. — Gardeners^ Chronicle. 



The Cochixeax Trade of Tentriffe. — The old proverb 

 that '* "WTiat is one man's meat is another man's poison " 

 was never better exemplified than in the cochineal trade, 

 which has been nearly ruined since the discovery of anil- 

 ine dyes. Until very recently this trade was the main- 

 stay of the island of Teneriffe, the cochineal depending 

 upon the cultivation -of the cactus plant {Opuntia Ficns 

 Indica), which, since the supersession of the trade by 

 aniline, is no longer the remunerative business that it 

 formerly was. Coohineal consists of several kinds and 

 qualities, the first and second qualities being called black 

 aconchada, the others being niadres huenos and plateada. 

 The export trade is principally in the latter kinds, the 

 first being less abundant and having to be more carefidly 

 picked and sorted. The madres huenos is seldom exx^orted, 

 but is principally used for propagating the cochineal insect 

 by sprinkling them on the thick fleshy leaves of the plant, 

 which flourishes equally well in indifferent and rocky soil 

 and requires little or no care or irrigation. The sowing 

 or sprinkling season of the insect is diu'ing the month of 

 May or June, and the gathering is made in October, when 

 the commercial operations commence and continue until 

 the following May. During 1S82 the shipments of cochineal 

 were 4,840,316 1b., showing a diminution of 791,3391b. on 

 the export of the previous year. Of this quantitv Eng- 

 land took 2,715,9831b., America 868,813., and "France 

 952,460 lb., the remainder going to Gennauy, Spain, 

 and Morocco. That the trade was of great value is shown by 

 the price in 18S0 of 2s. 4d. jier lb. iii England and 3f. 

 tlie kilo in France which produced a return of £600,000, 

 or four-fifths of the whole trade of Canary Islands. The 

 trade might have continued in a better state, had 

 not the cochineal fai-mers glutted the markets aud refused 

 to see the necestity of lowering their prices, in conse- 

 quence of the discoveries of fresh colouring matter. Consul 

 Dupuis says that the failure of the trade has effected 

 all classes of society, and lias brought great disti-ess not 

 only into the homes of the working men, but of the 



wealtheir residents, who were all more or less interested in 

 cochineal. It is now proposed to limit the growth of 

 the cactus and to substitute that of the sugar cane, for 

 the cultivation of which, and of tobacco, the island is ex- 

 tremelv well fitted. — Lomion Times. 



The MAN'iio Skason' tn India. — In a letter dated Sept. 

 5, Mr. C. B. Clarke writes: — "Mangoes lasted this year from 

 May 1st to September 1st — the finest Mango season in the 

 memory of man. Mangoes on the railway 40 miles down 

 would not pay carriage to Calcutta." So the good Mango 

 season coincides on this occasion with our good Apple 

 season. — Gardeners' Chronicle. 



The Field K.vt on the hills is becoming a formidable 

 enemy to garden cultivation. The scanty potato crop has 

 been robbed wholes de, and root crops and vegetables also 

 suffer i^everely from the depredations ot" these rodentg. 

 The fine turf walls which protect the sides of om- thorougli- 

 fares are being riddled and destroyed. Last year om* 

 Municipality waged war in the bazaar against tbe rats, 

 and this destruction tumished remunerative occupation for 

 youthful idlers ; but the nuisance is growing in magnitude, 

 and should be combatted in an efieciual way. The 

 Government of India, some time ago, allotted fifty- 

 thousand rupees to be disbursed in rewards for rats destroyed 

 in the hill tracts of Chittagong. French agricultiu'isfcs 

 adopt a successful plan for tbe destruction of field mice 

 which might be effectually tried for the rata here. It is 

 the construction of small stacks ot straw which are below the 

 level of the ground aud sacurely packed and covered in, after 

 being first stored ^vith poisoned beetroot, turnips, and car- 

 rots. The mice resort to the stacks in myriads, aud die after 

 partaking of the poisoned food provided. — Madras Times. 



Vegetables. — The following notes on vegetables are from 

 Mrs. Reeve's book on cookery : — All vegetables have an 

 effect on the chemistry of the body, so that we 

 cannot speak too highly of their importance at table. 

 AVe will mention a few of these matters first, and cUs- 

 pose of this aspect of the subject, so as not to seem to 

 mix pharmacopteia with the kitchen. Asjmragus is a strong 

 diuretic, and forms part of the cure for rheiunatic pati- 

 ents at such health resorts as Aix-les-Bains. 8orrel is 

 cooling, and forms the staple of that soupe aux herbes 

 which a French lady will order for herself after a long 

 and tiring journey. Carrots, as containing a quantity of 

 sugar, are avoided by some people, while otheis complain of 

 them as indigestible. With regard to the latter accusation, 

 it may be remarked in passing that it is the yellow core 

 of the carrot that is difficult of digestion — the outer, a 

 red layer, is tender enough. In Savoy, the peasants have 

 recourse to an infusion of carrots as a specific for jaund- 

 ice. The large sweet onion is very rich in those alkal- 

 ine elements wliich counteract the poison of rheumatic 

 gout. If slowly stewed in weak broth, aud eaten with 

 a little Xepavd pepjior, it \vi\\ be found to be an admir- 

 able article of diet for patients of studious aud sedent- 

 ary habits. The stalks of cauliflower have the .same sort 

 of value, only too often the stalk of a cauliflower is so 

 ill-boiled aud unpalatable, that few persons would thank 

 you for proposing to them to make a part of their meal 

 consist of so uninviting an article. Tui*nii)S, in the same 

 way, are often thought to be indigestible, and tetter suited 

 for cows and sheep than for delicate people; but here 

 the fault lies with the cook quite as much as with the root. 

 The cook boils the turnip badly, aud then pours some 

 butter over it, aud the eater of such a dish is svu-e to 

 be the worse for it. Try a better way. Half boil your 

 turnip, and cut it in slices like half crowns, butter a pie- 

 dish, put in the slices, moisten with a little milk and 

 weak broth, dust once with bread-crumbs and pepper 

 and salt, and bake in the oven tiU it gains a bright gokleu 

 brown. This dish, which is the Piedmontese fashion of 

 eating turuips, is quite uusuited to cows, and ought to 

 I be popular. What shall be said about om- lettuces ? The 

 { plant has a slight narcotic action, of which a French old 

 I woman, like the French doctor, well knows the value, 

 and when properly cooked it is really very easy of diges- 

 tion, but in our country, though lettuces are duly grown 

 in every garden, you often hear the remark, " I can't 

 eat a salad ; " and as few cooks know how to use a 

 vegetable wliich has been refused in its raw state, the 

 lettuces ai-e all wasted, and so is the giouud ou which 

 ^ey were grown. — Jjidiuo FlanUis' Gajcette. 



