July i, 1886.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIS-^ 



31 



I am quite aware that there have been in the past 

 tens of thousauds of chance seeiUing fruits such as 

 oranges and peaches raised in this colony, yet we never 

 get a peach equal to the original varieties as grown 

 in Europe, in consequence of ail the Earopeau kinds 

 degenerating when importeii lune. The cause of the 

 lack of improvement in these seedlings is that they 

 have been raised from seed produced from flowers left 

 to fertilise themselves, or to chance fertilisation by 

 insect agency, instead of by judicious hybridisation. 



Hybridisation aud cross breeding of plants have now 

 become a science of which the results in either fruit 

 or flowers are made an almost absolute certainty. The 

 hybridist should have a clear conception of what he 

 wishes to obtain, and then operate on the two varie- 

 ties possessing the desired qualities that he wishes 

 ■50 concentrate in one. For instance, take two varieties 

 of oranges or peaches as the case may be. One is 

 very hardy aud productive variety that can be alwaj's 

 depended on for a crop but its fruit is of inferior 

 quality. Another varietj' may be of weakly constitu- 

 tion and a shy bearer, but its fruit i> superb, and 

 we think if the robust hardy variety would only 

 produce fruit equal to the weakly kind what a 

 grand thing it would be. That can never he ; but 

 there is no reason why a hybrid should not be raised, 

 a distinct cross between the two, combining the hardi- 

 ness and productiveness of the one with the superior 

 quality of the other. To accomplish this flowers of 

 the robust variety should be fertilised with pollen 

 from the flowers of the weaker kinds, thus making the 

 strong-constitutioned plant the seed bearer. If this 

 were properly carried out the result would be a certainty ; 

 the hybrid seedling possessing the strength of the 

 mother plant with high qualities of the male parent. 

 It is rare that the progeny of two distinct varieties 

 represent the parents in a perfectly intermediate 

 degree but the general habit is usually that of the 

 mother or seed-bearing-parent. No absolute principle 

 can be laid down on this point, but as a rule the 

 strongest constftution should be made the seed-bearer. 

 l>ropping from the useful to the ornamental, there 

 Ls another wide field open to the labours of the hybrid- 

 ist. There is not a flower of any standard growing 

 in our gardens that has not been more or less civil- 

 ised or improved by this art. All our hybrid per- 

 petual roses originated in a cross between Rosa dam- 

 oscena and the prepetual chineats, and from this 

 group all our hybrid Noisettes, and Tea and scented 

 roses have been raised. Again, it is now difficult to 

 realize that one of the commonest and showiest flowers 

 grown here (the geranium) is the result of a simple 

 cross of a variety growing wild in S. Africa with the 

 small, flowered and sweetly-scented, foliaged G. cilrio- 

 rfora. But so it is, and still new varieties are being 

 added — the result of artificial fertilisation. It has long 

 been considered an undeniable fact, thit distinct .ipe- 

 oies will not cross. It has always been a stock argu- 

 ment that no one has ever yet succeeded in crossing 

 the apple with the pear ; the gooseberrj' with the 

 currant ; or the raspberry with the strawberry. Last 

 season this fallacy was swept away by Mr. Culver- 

 well {Gardeners' Chronicle, Vol. XIX., No. 490), who 

 succeeded in crossing the gooseberry with the black 

 currant and raised seedlings the result of the cross ; 

 and also in raising hybrids from crossing the straw- 

 berry with the raspberry. The successes have opened 

 up to scientists a vista of unlimited possibilities, aud 

 the f\i]l effects of which on our orchards and gardens 

 it is impossible at present to anticipate. — Planter and 

 Farmi'v. 



CiNNAMONUM Obtusifolium.— Mr. Peal writes that 

 Cinnai)i07ium obtusifoUuni is wrongly named, the leaves 

 being fairly acute, unless bitten off by insects, which 

 is commoidy the case, and this may have givt-u rise 

 to the idea that they are ohln-^e. — Indian Forester. 



Lime is helpful to the soil by hastening the de- 

 composition of the organic matter, and liberating the 

 fertilising elements contained therein. Lime should 



not be too frequently appli?d to land, and is always 

 better when mixed with some other good fertiliser 

 which it can assist. Many have proved the great 

 value of lime to mix with "weeds, leaves, or decaying 

 vegetable matter of all descriptions, for it hurries on 

 decompo.-^ition and prepares the compost for immediate 



usefulness. The old farming proverb is a true one : 



"Lime and lime without manure 



Makes both soil and farmer poor." 

 Another axiom equally sound is — 



" To well manure and dress with lime 



"Will surely give good crops in time." 

 — Planter awl Farmer. 



It appears from Mr. D. C. Robbins's 'Review of 

 the Drug Trade of New York for the year 1885,' 

 that the total import of drugs and chemicals into 

 that port during the twelve months was valued at 

 46,07.'),('63 dollars, showing a decrease of nearly 

 6,000,000 dollars as compared with the previous year, 

 the falling-oif being manifest in respeeet to both 

 dutiable and non-duti|ible goods. The import of cin- 

 chona bark, however, showed an increase for the first 

 time in five years— from 2,.588,307 pounds in 1884 to 

 8,559,091 pounds in 188.5; whilst that of quinine 

 also rose from 1,263,732 ounces to 1,390,(391 ounces. 

 Opium is another drug which shows a marked alteration 

 in the figures, since although the increased import 

 of medicinal opium only about compensates for the 

 increase in population, the imposition of a duty of 

 ten dollars per pound on opium prepared for smoking 

 has practically transferred the manufacture required 

 for home purposes from India to the States, crude 

 opium being now largely imported for the purpose. 

 — Phnrmacevtical .Journal . 



Cocaine. —Mr. AVm. Copeland, m.r.c.s., Darlington, 

 rel.ites in the Lancet his personal experience of cocaine 

 as an an.'Bsthetic in an operation for cataract. He is in 

 his 70th year. Dr. Bell Taylor, of Nottingham, per- 

 formed the operation. He says:— "The solution of 

 cocaine was applied to my eye three times at intervals 

 of fis'e minutes before the operation, and each step of 

 the operation was explained to me by Dr. Taylor as it 

 was successively accomplished ; the preliminary incision 

 was completed without pain, as was also the excision of 

 a small portion of the iris made in the upward direction— 

 a satisfactory answer, it appears to mc, to the query. 

 Does cocaine aft'ect deep-seated parts ? I can truthfully 

 affirm thnt the whole affair was painless, that the 

 cataract was removed without pain, that 1 have had 

 very little pain or discomfort since, and cin now. little 

 more than a fortnight after the operation, see objects 

 distinctly, make out words of small print, and am improv- 

 ing every day. You have had satisfactory evidence of 

 the value of cocaine before, but I venture to think none 

 so conclusive as this which I have now to offer." — ChemiM 

 and Druggist. 



The Geound Nut Teadk at Pondichehry.— 

 The ground nut trade continues unsteady : notwith 

 standing prices keep within the neighbourhood of R14 

 per French candy of o29 lb. Tip to date shipments 

 approximate to about 2,00,000 bags, or to one-fourth or 

 one-fifth of the probable total crop available for export. 

 The prices in Marseilles are stationary, and show no 

 signs of advance, while freights have gone up from 32-7 

 to 36-6 within the last mouth or six weeks. A fall, how- 

 ever, is expected on the setting in of the south-west 

 monsoon ; meanwhile Pondichi rry is filled to overflow- 

 ing, and storage is getting scarcer every day. Penruti, 

 the principal district market for the nuts, is crammed. 

 and large quantities are reported from the surrounding 

 villages. Cuddaloreloaded a steamer with ab<jut30,000 

 hags last month, and Messrs. Parry & Co. are now s.aid 

 to be buying .30.000 bags more for export, but the faci- 

 lities for shipping seom to be greatly inferior to those 

 of the French port. Until within the last fortnight or so 

 the railway ran- an average of three special '• nut " 

 trains daily into Pondicherry fovtive or six weeks ; just 

 now the receipt., are very irrsgulir, a better price being 

 deraanded, which buynrs are uotdisposed to consent to. 

 Judging from the shipments already gone forward, and 

 the enormous stocks on ha'id and to come forward, 

 the ground nut season of the present year is likely to 

 be a late one. — Madras Mail. 



