25^ 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



LOdT. I, 1886. 



which are kept scrupulously clean, as any noxious 

 taste or flavour imparted to the brine will ett'ect the 

 olives, aud the vessels are then covered with a cloth 

 or tarpaulin iu order to exclude the dust. Olives 

 thus treated will be in good order for boiliug or for 

 consumption in about four months, and will keep 

 sound for two yeurs. For pickling by a quicker pro- 

 cess, a solution of caustic soda is prepared, and the 

 fruit plnf-ed therein. After remaining in soak altout 

 one hour, a few olives arc sampled by cutting, in 

 order to ascertain how far the solution has penetrated 

 the pull); the depth of such penetration being easily 

 seen by thf^ colour, aud it should not exceed half 

 the thickness of the pulp. AVheu the olives are in 

 proper condition, the solution is immediately drawn 

 off, and replaced by fresh water, which must be 

 changed quickly three or four times, the fruit being 

 allowed to reuiain in the last water for twenty-four 

 hours. During that time the brine is prepared, and 

 the next day the olives are placed in it. By this 

 method of pickling, the olives will be ready for use 

 within thirty days. In both processes the olives, after 

 once being wetted, are never exposed to the air more 

 than a few minutes at the time, and in handling the 

 fruit, ladles of wood or tin are used invariably. The 

 extraction of oil is effected in many ways, .some of 

 them being very primitive. The first pressing is gen- 

 erally done by means of a mill, and the mass, when 

 reduced to a pulp, is soaked in hot water, and is then 

 subjected to a second pressing, which in the Seville 

 district is usually accomplished by means of hydraulic 

 machinery. The refuse of the second pressing is used 

 as fuel, and in some cases as cattle fodder. Recently 

 a new process has come into vogue, whereby a further 

 quantitj' of fatt5' matter is extracted which is used for 

 making soap. Where it is not thought advisable to 

 utilise the refuse in any of these ways, it is employed 

 as a fertiliser for the olive groves. It is estimated 

 that the yield of oil generally averages from about 16 

 to 25 per cent. Consul Oppenheim states, in con- 

 clusion, that a considerable export trade both in olives 

 and in olive oil is carried on in Spain, the amount of 

 the former shipped in 1882 exceeding 1,722,000, and 

 of the latter 13,730,000 kilogrammes, the principal 

 countries of destination being the United Kingdom, 

 France, and Cuba. — Journal of the Society of Arts. 



THE COLONIAL AND INDIAN EXHIBITION 

 AT SOUTH KENSINGTON. 



CANADA. 



A trophy of fruits shows what may be done in 

 preserving the appearance of fruits. Mr. W. Saun- 

 ders, of London, Ontario, a pharmacist whose name 

 is as well known in this couafcrj' as it is as an ento- 

 mologist in Canada, after many unsuccessful experi- 

 ments has at length hit upon a fluid which itself 

 remains \incoloured while preserving the plumpness 

 and a good deal of the natural colour of these fruits, 

 and it may be hoped that he will publish some inform- 

 ation respecting the preparations employed. Some 

 idea of the fruit trade in Canada may be gathered 

 from the fact that 200,000 barrels of apples are 

 annually produced in Nova Scotia alone. Among the 

 chemical and pharmaceutical products it is interesting 

 to note that there is a collection of chemicals exhibited 

 by the North American Chemical Co., aud presumably 

 manufactured iu the Dominion. Hemlock bark extract, 

 obtained from bark of Tstuja caiiadensis^ is also placed 

 in the same class of products, instead of, as might 

 have been supposed, amongst tanning materials. 

 According to Mr. H. B. Small's pamphlet on Canadian 

 Forests, the manufacture of this extract is assuming 

 large proportions, the export of extract having risen 

 from 190,068 dollars in 1881, to 305,426 dollars in 

 18S3, exeUisivc of the bark, which amounted in 1883 

 to 321,291 dollars. According to the ceusus of 1881 

 there were at that date four factories employing 140 

 hands engaged in this industry. Iu a Keport of a 

 Committee of Parliament iu 1868 it was estimated 

 that an extent of l(t,0()() acres of the best hemlock 



land was stripped every year for the bark, the timber 

 being left to rot on the ground. This wholesale 

 destruction threatens to dimini?h the future supply of 

 a wood that will become more and more useful as the 

 pine disappears. The mineral exhibits are far too 

 extensive to be noticed at length here. Among the more 

 striking exhibits in this class are a large mass of 

 graphite, surmounted by a gigantic plumbago crucible, 

 a tiue block of crystalline sulphate of strontian 

 (celestiue), magnessite, sulphate of barytes, a very 

 large crystal of apatite (native phosphate of lime) 

 for which £50 is asked, and a case illustrating the 

 manufacture of asbestos; also some good specimens 

 of mica shown close hy.— I'harmaceuiical JovrnaL 



AGEI-HORTICULTUEAL SOCIETJ OF INDIA: 



A Bifurcated Bamboo. 



Mb. H. C. Spry, of Dhoolie Tirhoot, writes regarding 

 the very unusual circumstance, which he had recently 

 observed, of a bamboo branching. The following is 

 his de.scription of the phenomenon ;—" The bamboo 

 shoots up some thirty feet high, and then divides off 

 into two separate perfect bamboos : the measurements 

 are as follows : — From root to where the bamboo 

 shows signs of dividing 22 feet ; at 32 feet it divides, 

 each fork measuring 25 feet; the total length being 

 thus 57 f^et. The circumference of the stem at the 

 root is 10^ inches, and the same where it divides : 

 the forks shortly after separating are each 7 inches 

 iu circumference." The Deputy Secretary stated that 

 he had nut found any record of a similar freak, and 

 had consulted Dc. King of the Royal Botauical 

 Gardens, who had in reply stated that he was not 

 aware of such a case being recorded, and thinks it 

 must be of very rare occurrence. He suggests that 

 the specimen would be valued at Kew. Dr. King 

 remarks that " there is not more reason why a bamboo 

 should not bifurcate than why a palm should not, 

 but palms occasionally do. We have a fine bifurcated 

 specimen of Dictijosperma Alba in the garden here." 

 Thei-e is also, or was, a branching date-palm at Indore. 

 of which a drawing is given in Vol. IV^., New Seiies 

 of the Society's Journal. — [A seven-branch coconut 

 imlm which was oue of the great sights of Colombo, 

 was destroyed in the burning of the Racket Court 

 building recently. — Ed.] 



MALTA LEMON. 



Dr. E. Bonavia has frequentlj-, in letters to the 

 Society, alluded to this fine fruit. Some lemons grown 

 by Mr. Stalkartt, of Goosery, were recently sent to 

 him. He writes as follows.- — 



" I have received the lemons you kindly sent me 

 and which were grown in BIr. Stalkartt's garden, 

 Goosery. Please tell him he has the finest lemon in 

 the world. It is neither more nor less than the Malta 

 lemon {citrvfi limonitinn vtilgaris of Risso). It agrees 

 in every pos.sible way with that lemon — scent and 

 shape of leaf — scent of rind, and shape of fruit; 

 abundance and purity of the acid juice, bears a 

 heavy crop, hearifst in cold wt-ather. That is the 

 spring crop, {sets in spring). Those you sent me 

 are ' Dumrez,' or after crop, which ripens in the hot 

 weather and rains. With mnageiv.in this lemon tree 

 can have ripe fruit all the year round. The Dumrez 

 is smoother, and varies often in shape from the 

 Spring crop, which is rougher. There is uo one point 

 in which Mr. Stalkartt's lemon does not agree with 

 the Malta lemon. I should like to learn the history 

 of it. I introduced the Malta lemon iu Lucknow in 

 18t)3. Last year when I sent your Society some 

 Malta lemon trees, you stated that there were .some 

 old trees in the Society's Garden of the same kind, 

 and it was not known they were Malta lemons. Pro- 

 bably your old trees came originally from Lucknow, 

 and Mr. Stalkartt may have got his from your .Society. 

 Anyhow I have been sending Malta lemon trees to 

 Assam, aud Dcvikulam, South India, from here, and 

 you have lots of them iu Calcut-a, from which you 

 could supply both East and South India. This lemon 

 is the beft Jor f/'roction, for fever and spleen. More- 



