370 



^ME I'ROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[Dec I, 1^86. 



suppose, of such operations as of ploughing, harrowing, 

 rolliu}:, drainage, irrigation, &c. I hear you are being 

 inslructctl in ploughing. Well, you will know by this 

 that even iu such a simple agricultural operatiou you 

 want to kuow something of the nature, constitution 

 and texture of the soil and subsoil, and the advisability 

 or danger of going deep or shallow ; what width your 

 furrow slice shtuld be, &c. But now you must be 

 laughing at the idea of my referring to ploughing at 

 all when you know all about it by this. — " Examiner." 



PLANTING IN FIJI. 



The Rp:w\ Kivkr. — The largest river in Fiji is the 

 ]\ewa in the island of Viti Levu, the largest island of the 

 group. It is formed by the confluence of the Wanibuka 

 and Wainimala, and at 2is and 11 miles respectivelj' from 

 its mouth receives as tributaiies, on its right bank the 

 Waidina and Waimana. Including its tributaries, the 

 river is navigable for about 72 miles, and it drains a 

 surface area of about 1360 square miles, there is an 

 approximate average annual rainfaU of 130 iu. The 

 Rewa Kiver has five entrances, all of which are, 

 separated from one another by extensive delta. They 

 are, however, protected from the fury of the ocean by 

 a coral barrier reef. Nature has perfected the handi- 

 work by leaving channels wide and deep enough to 

 admit the largest ships through the barrier. After des- 

 cribing other smaller tributaries, Mr. Thomson remarked 

 that the Rewa River system is a most important 

 one, from both a commercial and an agricultural 

 point of view. During heavy floods, which are of rare 

 occurrence, the fiat land on the margin of the river 

 is enriched by the deposits from the waters, just as the 

 Egyptian plains are through the overflowing of the 

 Nile. The writer described the nature of the European 

 land claims, and gave a table showing the area so 

 claimed on the Rewa River. The different sugar est- 

 ates were described at coneiderble length. The Fijians 

 themselves cultivate cane upon small plantations, and 

 sell it to the manufacturers, receiving the same price as 

 the European grower. There are extensive areas of 

 virgin soil available for the same purpose awaiting 

 European capital and enterprise. The average annual 

 rainfall on the Rewa is over 100 in., and the climate 

 good. Prior to 1881 all the labourers imported into 

 Fiji were Polynesians, but owing to the great com- 

 petition in the Polynesian labour trade from other 

 colonie.s, the Government established a system of coolie 

 immigration from India, which has so far proved a 

 great success, and now very few Polynesians are em- 

 ployed in the Rewa district. Each cooly or Polynesian 

 can work from two to three acres of the cane field, 

 and the number of labourers on each plantation is 

 properly regulated. The cost of imported coloured 

 labour, including introduction, &c., per head per annum 

 was as follows : — Ooolies, about £28 ; Polynesians, about 

 X35 ; and Fijians, £27. Ooolies cost £21 16s. 8d. in- 

 troduction money; wages, Is. per day for men, and 

 9d. per day for women. For the first six months the 

 employer has to find the cooly in rations, deducting 

 od. per day from his earings for the same. After that 

 period ho has to find himself. Th3 term of service is 

 five year."!. The percentage of sick and ab^ient from 

 work every day showed them to be au expensive class 

 pf labour, A new Fijian labour system has beeu 

 ndopted, to be assimilated with the cooly ordinance 

 to allow the engagement of the Fijian by the day or 

 task tvork, which would no doubt be a benefit to 

 European agriculturalists. Atpresent the European popu- 

 lation on the Rewa Hirer is about ^000, being mostly scat- 

 tered throughout the districts The soil and climate 

 were peculiarly adapted for the growth of all tropical 

 and semi-tropical productB. The cultivation of tobacco 

 was much neglected, and was left almost entirely in 

 llic hands of the natives. The total value of the sugar 

 exports during the last four years from the colony of 

 Fiji was £708,569 2s. lid. 8heep did not appear to 

 thrive in Fiji, but horses and cattle did well, and the 

 latter Avere often met with in large herds. All kinds 

 of birds were there in profusion, and many natives 

 could boast of well-stocked poultry yards, The natives 

 gt F'ji were » poutented people, and roucb ffup^rior 



in physical and intellectual capacity to other Polyne- 

 sians, the Maoris being their only superiors iu the 

 South Seas. Previous to the writer's visit there can- 

 nibalism e.xisted, but the outrages committed against 

 Europeans were, in his opinion, the result of great 

 aggravation. However, the Fijians were pow a useful 

 race and were civilised. The youths were trained at 

 Tarious religious schools, and at the Government Native 

 State Schools. — Queenslander. 



A NEW INDUSTBY FOR QUEENSLAND : 



FIBRES. 



Amongst the many interesting facts to be met with 

 in the study of the vegetable kingdom not the least 

 interesting are to be found in the history of some 

 members of the nettle tribe. They are widely dis- 

 persed over the face of the globe, and like members 

 of a human family exhibit immeasurably different 

 characteristics, according to their habitat and associ- 

 ations. They have opposite or alternate leaves ; their 

 stamens are as many as their perianth segments and 

 opposite to them. They have limpid juice. The 

 flowers are unisexual or polygamous. Ovary, free one- 

 celled, with one erect ovule. So much for the features 

 by which we may know them, but in temperate re- 

 gions they are only herbs, whereas in the tropics 

 they attain the diginity of shrubs. According to 

 Lindley there are twenty three genera and 300 species, 

 hut he adds that there are probably more known now. 



So common is the Biritish nettle weed that it has 

 given rise to the proverb concerning " Grasping the 

 nettle." 



The reason why the nettle does not sting when it 

 is f/rasped, but does sting if it be touched lightly, 

 is not generally known, except amongst botanical stu- 

 dents; and almost all books on botany seem to be 

 written with the express purpose of frightening people 

 away by means of using the longest and hardest 

 words that can be found. It is somewhat in the 

 same way that the serpent uses the poison-gland at 

 the base of his tooth that the nettles exude their 

 poison, and one German botanist has fancifully des- 

 cribed them as " the serpents of the vegetable king- 

 dom." In the stinging-nettle there is a little bag situ- 

 ated at the bottom of a hollow hair ; this bag con- 

 tains an acrid fluid surrounded by a number of elas- 

 tic cells. The point of the hair is sharp, and is 

 protected bj' a tiny cap. "When the nettle is touched 

 lightly this cap is broken off, the point of the hair 

 pierces the skin, and a drop of the stinging juice is 

 forced into the blood. If the nettle be grasped 

 firmly the tube is ruptured lower down, hence there 

 is no sharp point to pierce the skin, and the juice is 

 simply poured upon the exterior. Endlicher con- 

 siders that the "causticity of nettle juice is owing 

 to the presence of bicarbonate of ammonia,'' but the 

 properties of the juices of virulently stinging nettles 

 is a subject which still requires minute and careful 

 investigation, for in the case of some exotic urticace;o 

 or nettles the wounds produced are so dangerous as 

 to necessitate amputation. 



According to Pouchet. " If we look at the minute 

 quantity of venom with which one of their hairs 

 inoculates us — not perhaps the 150,000th )3irt of a 

 graui — at the rapidity and intensity of the symptoms, 

 it is clear that the pjisou of the nettle is the dead- 

 liest known." In fact, the true stories concerning 

 the depravity of exotic nettles may in a mild way 

 compare with the fabled wickedness of the Upas tree, 

 though it cannot be said that " for three or four 

 leagues around only dead bodies and skeletons of men 

 are to be met with, whilst the birds which ventured 

 into the surrounding air felt to the ground as if 

 struck by lightning," Whut is true of the Upas tree 

 is that eight drops of the juice injected into the 

 veins of a hor.«e killed it in a few minutes. 



Leschenhault says that he ha.i seen the sting of 

 Urtica creiudata bring on the most horrible suffering 

 for a whole week, whilst Shleideu declares that if a 

 person is stung by the Vrtica r.rentiisima amputation 

 is the only remedy, or rather the sole means qI saving 

 life. 



