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ir'HE TROPICAL AGRiCaLtURiSJT. 



[Oct. 1, 1886. 



■LJi-^_ r a. « 



A good deal of foreign matter is found in the milk, 

 and Mr. Jenman says adulteration is systematically 

 carried on, and the agents have at all times to be on 

 their guard against it. 



The report concludes with a consideration of the 

 damage done to the forest?, ami some remarks on their 

 better conservation. — Journal oftheSocieti/ofAits. — [We 

 have carefully read the Keport of which the above is 

 a summafy and the conclusions we have arrived at arc 

 that Balata gum is not equal to India-rubber, and that 

 the prices received for it do not justify the destruction 

 of the noble forest trees which are felled simply for the 

 Bake of the bark juice. En.] 



> 



The "Whistltng" Tree. — In Nubia there are groves 

 of acacia extending over 100 miles square. The most 

 conspicuous species, says Dr. Hchweinfurth, is the 

 Acacia fistufa. Its Arabic name is " soff ar," meaning 

 flute or pipe. From the larvse of insects which have 

 worked their way to the inside, their ivory white 

 shoots are often distorted in form and swollen out 

 at their base into a globular bladder-like gall, about 

 one inch in diameter. After the insect has emerged 

 from a circular hole, this thorn-like shoot becomes 

 a sort of musical instrument, upon which the wind 

 as it plays produces the regular sound of a flute. 

 On this account the natives of the Soudan name it 

 the " whistling tree." — Indian Gardener 



Green Manuring.— Vegetable substances in their 

 green and succulent state are powerful fertilisers 

 when thoroughly incorporated with the soil. A great 

 portion of the "bulk of green crops is obtained from 

 atmospheric sources ; and after a green crop is ploughed 

 in, the soil necessarily contains more of the 

 organic elements essential to vegefable nutrition than 

 it did before that crop was grown; it is richer, in 

 fact, by the carbon, oxygen, hydrogen and nitrogen, 

 which the green crop has obtained from sources in- 

 dependent of the soil. In like manner, the crop grown 

 after a green crop has been ploughed in has the 

 advantage of a regular supply of mineral elements, 

 which have been worked up by the roots of the fer- 

 tilising crop from the soil and subsoil, and which in 

 many instances, owing to their sparing solubility, are 

 with difiBculty obtained under ordinary circumstances. 

 — Morton's d/clopcedia. 



Mica Mine in Gkoton, N. H.— The ledge is really a 

 large hill of solid rock, composed in the regular order, 

 after the covering of schist is removed — quartz mica, 

 feldspar, again through the hill to an uncertain depth. 

 The work of blasting has been carried forward there 

 until an open drift has been cut 300 feet long, at 

 least forty feet wide, and not much less than fifty 

 feet deep. Branching off from this cut is a tunnel 

 now about seventy feet long and twenty feet high, 

 drilled horizontally into the ledge. Small iron tram- 

 ways lead to the dump, and little cars, pushed by 

 hand, carry the refuse rock out of the way. The 

 mica crystals of all sizes, from an inch across to more 

 than two feet in their larger axis, protrude from 

 sides and from above and below, with their planes 

 at every conceivable inclination, waiting for some 

 well placed charge of giant powder to free them 

 from the mass of worthless rock in which they are 

 imbedded, These crystals vary from the size of one's 

 band to blocks two feet in length and from si.x 

 inches to a foot in thickness, and are rapidly split 

 into sheets by a group of men seated on low stools. 

 The thin sheets are carried from this group to a 

 long line of men standing at benches, who cut them 

 to the largest possible patterns with tinman's shears. 

 The market value of mica depends on the size of the 

 sheets. — Kocli/ Mountain Minimi Review. 



Bones- It' is well known that boiie dust is a first class 

 fertiliser where sufficient farmyard dung is not avail- 

 able. But it is sometimes advisable to supplement 

 it with some other materials containing important 

 elements, such as potash, in which it is deficient. 

 It is a great pity that the (Jcrmau potash salts 

 Arc not to be procured here. The discovery some 

 years since of large deposits of potash salts in 

 Gternaany has led to an enormous demand in Europe 

 and America tor »gricuUural purposes. Good tuuriate 



of potash, which is one of the salts above alluded 

 to, contains about 5ll per cent of pure potash, and 

 is most valuable to use in combination with bone 

 dust. Then to add to the stimulating quantities of. 

 the fertiliser, some salt containing ammonia or nitric 

 acid should be added. Soot, containing a large i)er- 

 centage of sulphate of anmionia, is excellent, if only 

 to be obtained in sufficient ((uantity. Nitrate of 

 soda, another agricultural salt largely used in Europe 

 and America, will also supply nitric acid. It is 

 very soluble and is most valuable in dry seasons, 

 as a very little rain will wash it down to the roots. 

 Supposing we have these at hand, we might apply 

 to an acre of land, five cwt. bone dust, two cwt. 

 muriate of potash and one and a hf»lf cwt. of nitrate 

 of soda. This would be a first-rate fertiliser for 

 ordinary farm land. — llural Ai/atrnlian. 



Boxes kor Younc* Plants.— These are of different 

 sizes — from 15 inches to 20 inches wide, 1(5 inches 

 to 30 inches long, and 2^ inches to 3| inches or 4 

 inches deep. I buy empty soap and other boxes 

 at grocery stores at the price grocers are allowed 

 by the manufacturers for returned empties. I cut 

 these boxes lengthwise into three parts, and in this 

 way get two complete plant boxes (one from the 

 top and one from the bottom), and all except the 

 bottom of a third one. The bottoms of these third 

 boxes are supplied from factory strips, or a few 

 boxes laid aside for furnishing bottoms only. Of 

 course, the boxes got from the top and bottom cuts 

 are close-bottomed, and that will not do for plants, 

 but that is soon altered. When young plants are 

 raised in pots, their roots become root-bound, or 

 twisted into a tight mass ; if at planting time we 

 undo these balls of roots, it will for a short time 

 materially check growth, and if we set out tho 

 plants without unfastening their roots, the roots 

 never become uncoiled, and although the plants 

 may wilt less at the time of setting out, they do 

 not afterwards grow as thrifty as those do whose 

 roots are not coiled into a mass; and they also are 

 more susceptible to injury by drought. For all one- 

 season plants, such as Geraniums Coleuses, we should 

 avoid pots. Plants in boxes need less care in watering 

 than do those in pots, and in moving boxes from one 

 place to another, we move 100 plants with as much 

 ease and as quickly as we would six or seven in 

 pots. — Ibid. 



The Value of Salt. — Severe pains in the bowel.s 

 and stomach are often speedily relieved bf the applic- 

 ation of a bag of hot salt. A weak solution of salt 

 and water is recomended by gooil physicians as a 

 remedy for imperfect digestion, aiid for a cold in the 

 head it is a complete cure snuffed up from the 

 hollow of the hand. We have known severe chronic 

 cases of catarrh entirely cured by persistent use of 

 this simple remedy every night and morning for 

 several months, when the best efforts of the best 

 physicians failed to do any good. It should be used 

 milk warm. A good handful of rock .salt added to 

 the bath is the next best thing after an '* ocean dip," 

 and a gargle of a weak solution is a good and ever- 

 ready remedy for a sore throat. As a dentifrice, salt 

 and water is very cleansing and also hardens the gums. 

 It will also prevent the hair from falling out. When 

 broiling steak throw a little fait on the coals, and the 

 blaze from tho dripping fat will not annoy. A little 

 in starch, boiled or raw. will prevent the irons from 

 sticking. If the irons are rough, put a little salt on 

 thick brown paper, lay a piece of tbin brown muslin over 

 it, and rub the iron over it till perfectly smooth. 

 Ink stains are entirely removed by immediate applic- 

 ation of dry salt before the ink has dried. "When 

 the salt becomes discoloured by absorbing the ink, 

 brush it off and apply more ; wet slightly. Continue 

 this still the ink is all removed If new calicoes are 

 allowed to lie in strong salt witer for an hour before 

 the first washing, the colours are less likely to fade. 

 Damp salt will remove the discolouration of cups and 

 saucers c:Mised by tea and careless washing. A tea- 

 spoonful of salt in each kerosene lamp makes the 

 oil give a much clearer, better light, — KatuehiNK 

 AaMSTBOfo in Farmeri Ferkw. 



