6<y 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST* 



[July i, i886# 



fi!l the time taught agriculture free of charge, 

 hrough an agency speciallj' established for that 

 Durpose. Hut if they do not like, and many 

 )refer the old free jungle life and the excitement of 

 I he daily chase, then it becomes a question between 

 their unerring but scattered matchlocks and the 

 liristling breech-loaders of half-drilled Chinese troops. 

 Through part of the territory already recoved the 

 Chinese have constructed a good military road, a,nd 

 iiefore long this is expected to debouch on the east 

 . oast, at So;i-bei, where, by the way, there is a fine 

 spring of mineral water, of what value is not known, 

 8 none of the water has been subjected to analysis. 

 The authorities are extremely jealous -of foreiguers 

 \isiting these savages. 'I'he petty mandarin above 

 mentioned did all he could to prevent my party from 

 .idvaucing, deviating boldlj' from the truth in order to 

 effect his object. Before long the occasion will hardly 

 arise. Those foreigners who would study the Form- 

 osan savage in his native haunts must make haste ; 

 there will soon be none left to study. — London and 

 China Euprt ;iS. 



♦ • 



CULTIVATION OF TOBACCO IN GREAT 



BRITAIN. 



As considerable interest is being taken in this subject 

 ;it present, it may be interesting to agriculturists to 

 know that about the year 1800 an attempt was made to 

 cultivate Tobacco in Scotland, and it is recorded in the 

 Statistical Account of Roxhioyhshire tha.t ^^ in one season 

 a tenant-farmer in the parish of Crailing (about 6 miles 

 west of Kelso) drew £115 for Tobacco plants, and 

 afterwards grew a crop of between 12 and 13 acres, 

 which he sold upon the ground for £320, but an Act of 

 Parliament intervening, the purchaser was unable to 

 tulfil his bargain, and the farmer was compelled to 

 dispose of his Tobacco to the Government at only -Id. 

 per pound, at which rate it brought him only £104." 

 And it is further remarked: — "It appeared from the 

 trials made at that time that Tobacco would thrive well 

 in the southern part of Scotland." It was also grown 

 largely in fields a little to the east of this town (Kelso), 

 part of which is now a cemetery. A road at the west 

 end of the cemetery is still called the " Drying-house " 

 Lane from the fact that the house where the Tobacco 

 was dried stood there. INIr, Brotherston, botanist here, 

 informs us that between twenty and thirty years ago he 

 used to grow regularly in his garden at Ediiam (about 

 two miles north-east of Kelso, as much as furnished him 

 with smoking Tobacco ; and at the present time we 

 know of its being regularly grown in a nobleman's garden 

 for the purpose of fumigating the greenhouse plants, 

 the sort generally grown being the Virginian, a vafiety 

 of Nicotiaua tabacum, though there are many other 

 sorts in cultivation, one being Nicotiaua rustica, the 

 common or green-flowering variety, which is much 

 hardier than Yirginica, and, we believe, the first to be 

 cultivated in this country, though the Virginian was 

 introduced fully 130 years earlier. "We may say, that 

 for this country the young plants require to be raised in 

 a hot bed, and planted out about the end of ISIay in 

 deeply trenched soil heavily maimred. The greatest 

 enemy the plants have to contend with (but only in their 

 young state) is the slug. ^Ve have no doubt whatever 

 that Tobacco could in most seasons be profitably grown 

 in this country, provided Government will be somewhat 

 lenient as to the conditions and taxation. If we 

 mistake not, the parliamentary Act referred to was 

 passed almost solely for the benefit of encouraging the 

 growth of Tobacco in the colonies ; and surely our 

 colonial friends have had a fair monopoly of its growing, 

 and it is to be hoped that the Government will allow our 

 farmers at home (who maj' wish to grow it) permission 

 to do so on reasonable and encouraging terms. — Laing 

 & Mather, Allow me to say a few additional words on 

 the cultivation of yellow Tobacco, which I omitted for 

 the sake of brevity in my last communication. To a 

 certain extent the writer of the pamphlet quoted by me 

 is at one with Colonel Trevor Clarke, " that the colour 

 of the ultimate product is due to soil and conditions of 

 cultivation." Like C(jlonel Clarke, he deprecates the 

 use of farm manures, but -strongly advocates the use of 



prepared fertilisers. Thus he says: — "Eleven years' 

 experience in the use of the Anchor Brand Tobacco 

 Fertiliser, manufactured by the Southern Fertilising 

 Company, Kichmond, Virginia, has convinced the writer 

 that it is the planter's best aid in the production of rich, 

 silky, bright yellow Tobacco. Lands cajjable of pro- 

 ducing yellow Tobacco need just such help as is fur- 

 nished by this fertiliser in hastening th(! growth and 

 giving size, substance, and early maturity to the plant. 

 From 100 to 300 lb. per acre of the fertiliser may be 

 profitably used." Regarding the black colour of liatakia 

 this is due to a great e.xteut to the system of dr3-ing 

 over the smoke of burning Oak-wood, by which it also 

 obtains the smoky flavour characteristic of this 'J'obacco 

 I am fi'lly aware of the difference in the flavour of 

 Tobaccos that have been fermented and those that have 

 not, Or only slightly so ami I prefer the later because- 

 they are lighter and more fragrant. — John R. Jack.son, 

 Museum, Kew. — Gardeners' Chronicle. 



ON A METHOD OF TRANSMITTING LIVING 

 PLANTS ABROAD. 



BY II. LIND8.U', CUit.\TOK, KOY.VL BOT.VNIC GARPEN. 



" The method usually adopted in transmitting living 

 plants, particularly where very long journeys have to be 

 undergone, is to pack the plants in AYardiau case.s, i.e., 

 cases fitted with glass sashes, which, when closed, are 

 nearly air-tight. This is no doubt the best mode of 

 conveying plants safely, provided they are properly 

 attended to on the journey. To do so it is almost 

 necessary for some one who understands the require- 

 ments of plant life, to take charge of the case as, when 

 sent without any special attention being paid to them, 

 the results are frequently unsatisfactory. The dangers 

 attending such structures appear to be want of ventil- 

 ation and shading. The plants contained in them .soon 

 become drawn up and weakly in the steamy atmosphere 

 of a close-fitting case, and often arrive at their destin- 

 ation m a dying or dead condition. One of the most 

 succe.ssful importations of plants that I recollect of 

 having seen was contained in a small wooden box sent 

 to the Garden from Australia by Baron von JMueller, in 

 ISCG. The plants had been over three months on the 

 journey, but were found to be in perfect health on their 

 arrival at the Garden. This r> suit we attributed 

 chiefly to the simple manner in which the case was 

 constructed. It consisted of a rough square wooden box, 

 filled with soil, into which the plants (which had 

 previously been grown in pots) were placed, two narrow 

 strips of wood were nailed on to the sides of the box in 

 an upright position, to which a cross-piece was attached, 

 constituting a handle. The whole was then covered 

 with strong cotton cloth, no glass being used. In vol. 

 viii., p. 482, Tran.tactions of the Botanical Societi/, a 

 description is given of this case by the late Mr. McNab. 

 In July last our associate, Mr. John Buchanan, when 

 returning to Central Africa, being desirous of taking 

 some economic plants out with him to that country, an 

 opportunitj' was thus afforded of trying an experiment. 

 This was rendered all the more necessary as on previous 

 occasions similar plants sent to Central Africa from the 

 Garden, packed in Wardian cases, although taken every 

 care of on the way out, were found to be mostly dead 

 on their arrival. On this occasion, a case similar to 

 that exhibited was prepared. It is 18 inches long, 12 

 inches wide, 1(5 inches deep, has a ridge roof with a 

 handle fastened on the top for carrying. The main 

 difference from an ordinary "Wardian case is in the 

 substitution of cotton blinds for glass sashes. The 

 blinds are nailed to the top of the ridge and tied down 

 with cords to the sides of the case, so that they may be 

 easily rolled up or down as re<juired. The advantage 

 of this method is the admi.ssion of sufflcient light and 

 air to maintain the plants in a healthy condition ; the 

 fine meshes of the cloth acts a.s a shade from strong 

 sunshine, and do not admit so much air as to cause the 

 interior to become quickly dried up. The plants sent 

 on this trial consisted of India-rubbers, several Tea 

 plants. Cinchonas and Ipecachuana. They were all 

 turned out of the pots in which they had been growing 

 previously, the balls of soil slightly reduced, and then 



