iso 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [Nov. i, 1886. 



From the foregoing table any one can estimate whether 

 there is gain or loss, and how much, in applying 

 102 maunds of cotton seed per acre to his tea cultiv- 

 ation, the profits being dependent upon the cost per 

 naaund to put it into the ground and the price obtained 

 per lb. for tea. As to what amount may be considered 

 fair -profit per acre must be left to the decision of 

 each planter who uses this manure, as circumstances 

 differ so greatly that what would be deemed satis- 

 factory by one person or garden might not turn out 

 a profitable investment for others. 



In the foregoing table the cost of cotton seed per 

 inaund includes <■/// charges, viz., the purchase money 

 and the expense of transporting and application j)er 

 acre. Finally, it must be remembered that the above 

 quantity per acre extends its beneficial influ- 

 ence upon the cultivation during a p^^rtion of the 

 third season, also, after application: and although 

 there seems apparently to be no improvement in 

 the strength and quality of the tea, judging from 

 the few samples reported on by the Brokers, yet 

 there is no doubt whatever that ^uitahJv manures 

 when applied in adequate quanttty per acre, must 

 enhance the value of the produce in addition to 

 increasing the outturn. — F. McL. Oartee, Manacfer. 



Ohandpore Garden, Ohittagong, 4th August, 1886. 



P. S. — I have omitted to state that if the cotton 

 seed could have been procured fresh, with the oil 

 expressed, it would have been equally as valuable for 

 mauurial purposes, and the cost in consequence would 

 have been less. 



♦ 



NOTE ON PAPER PLANT, 

 By .J. S. Gamble, Conservator of Fouests, 



NoKTHEliN OlRCr.E, MADRAS. 



The "paper mulberry" is very easy to grow when 

 once one has a few plants to start from, for cuttings 

 strike most freely. Before I left Bengal I planted a 

 few acres ( I forget how much ) in the Terai. They 

 were doing well when I left, hut 1 have heard no- 

 thing of them since. The tree is imligenous inTenas- 

 serim and wants a moist climate. It would not grow 

 in the Ceded districts, but would do well enough, 

 I think, in Goomsur, in Madras, and in, perhaps, the 

 coast rice country, and, of course, in Malabar, &c. 

 To be of any use as a fibre it should be grown near 

 the port of shipment, for we have unfortunately no 

 paper mills yet in this Presidency. I have no idea 

 of what its value is. Plantain fibre ( see also fo.' 

 this Dr. King's remarks ) is purchased by the Bally 

 Mills from Bengal ryots at Rl per maund of 80 lb, 

 Babuli grass ( Polliiiia Euopoda ) is worth R2 per 

 maund, and is nearly equal to Esparto. Clianed 

 Broussonetia might be worth R4, so that it would 

 not stand much railway freight to pay its expenses. 

 Grown at Madras or near other coast ports it might 

 be a good speculation if the land were not heavily 

 assessed, and it were done on a large scale. But unle.'^s 

 paper mills are started it is not worth growing in- 

 land. The Chingleput District Forest officer might 

 try it on the old farm lands at Saidapet. If seed 

 is wanted, it should be procured from Colonel Sea- 

 ton, Conservator of Forests, Tenasserim Circle, British 

 Burma. AVe have any number of indigenous fibre 

 plants in the moist climates of the Presidency, and 

 paper mulberry could be very easily grown if the 

 paper stock would pay its e.xpenses. In such clim- 

 ates, I have no more doubt of its success than of 

 any of the common urticaceous plants which grow so 

 easily from seed or cuttings. What we irant are 

 plants that will do to reafforest dry and poor soils 

 and give sufficient wood or fibre or bark or some- 

 thing to pay expenses. 



THE NORTHERN AUSTRAIJAN TERRITC^tY 



YAM. 



(to the EDiroK 01 TlIK " AtKiKAI. ASIAN.'") 



Sir— ]\Iy attention has been drawn by the various 

 accounts given in your paper of the jjioiific nature 

 of what is now generally known as the Northern 

 Territory yam, its extraordinary value as a fodder 

 plant for all kinds of stock throughout the year, as 



well as its value to man as a substitute for potatoes. 

 If all that is written about it be true, it will flourish 

 under any climate and in any soil. Under these 

 circumstances it ought to become when once located 

 a great boon to both stockowners and farmers in the 

 arid North, especially during the summer months and 

 times of drought, when everything else is parched up, 

 yet its u.sefidness, I think, can be still further ex- 

 tended. Might it not be planted with advantage 

 through our scrub lands? I believe in a very few 

 years it would be the means of enabling us to' stock 

 many square miles of useless scrub which will carry 

 little or no stock at the present time. My idea is 

 that it should be distributed among the leaseholders 

 of these lands, with the request that it should be 

 planted through the scrub. The same should be done 

 on all unleased Crown lands by the Government. 

 If successful and once firmly rooted the vines would 

 soon spread over the ground, and would choke and 

 destroy a great deal of the undergrowth and bushes 

 which man or beast do not eat, and which prevents 

 anything like grass growing. It would also spread 

 and climb over the trees and entwine itself among 

 the leaves and branches. The stock would help to 

 destroy a great deal of scrub by constantly trampling 

 and breaking it down in getting at the vine, whereas 

 now they only make tracks or pads. I firmly believe 

 its presence in these said scrubs would make them 

 capable of carrying a certain amount of stock, and 

 by so doing would place a value on the land which 

 it has not now. Let it grow ever so thickly, a 

 plant that will give food to both man and beast can 

 never become a nuisance. There are scores of places 

 where it might be tried with advantage that are now 

 only refuges for bunny ; for instace, through the 

 Murray >Scrub, and that long stretch of country be- 

 tween the Gawler Ranges and the West Coast — the 

 bete noir of the Colton farmers. Provided bunny did 

 not destroy the vine it might in time become bunny's 

 greatest enemy, by drawing a population into the iso- 

 lated portions of the country, and help in a mensure 

 to break up these great breeding-places. I should 

 like to see it tried on this now despised Kangaroo 

 Island, I believe its advent here would help more 

 in its advaucemeut than anything I know ; there 

 would be little or no trouble or expen.se in the experi- 

 ment. The telegraph line runs through the centre 

 from one end to the other, A parcel of tubers 

 should be sent to each of the telegraph officers, and 

 given by them to the line men, who could easily 

 plant them on either side of the line about a mile 

 apart on their travels up and down. The lighthouse- 

 keepers ought to have some tubers sent to them, and 

 be asked to plant them rounil about, I feel certain 

 if the settlers and farmers were found in seed they 

 would only be too glad to plant them about, as 

 most of them leave home for a month or two every 

 year and pretty well spread themselves all over the 

 Island. It would be no trouble for each of them to 

 take a few in their pockets, and plant them here and 

 there as they go about. I myself could plant any 

 ()uantity if I had the tubers over a large extent of 

 country from West Bay down. Like the wallaby- 

 hunters we could take some in our pockets and plant 

 them wh^n out mustering. By these means the whole 

 of the Island might be thickly planted in one season, 

 and the sooner the better. It will be to every island- 

 er's advantage to help in the cultivation of the yam 

 here, for well he knows what a very great boon it 

 would be even if it did nothing more than provid.^ 

 food for his horses when travelling. The want of 

 grass has been the one great bar to all travelling 

 here, and the principal cause of so little being known 

 about this island. Kangaroo Island has been in the 

 background long enough. It only wan^s a little energy 

 and enterprise to bring it to the front. I am one 

 of the few who be'ieve that it is coming on slowly, 

 I live in hopes of yet seeing the smoke of a thriv- 

 ing township curling over the waters of A'ivonne 

 Bay, Wool, timber, fruit, and minr.rals chief ex- 

 ports, not forgetting the wallabies — skins, tails, car- 

 casses, and all, — I am. Sir, &c., Anothek Industry 

 TH.\T wti.i, Yirr HE Addhd. 



