386 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[Dec. 



1 886. 



It will now be found that the plants will grow 

 very rapidly. Meanwhile the ti-enches should be pre- 

 pai-uil one foot deep and one foot wi le. Place six 

 inches of thoroughly decomposed manure at the bottom 

 of the trench. When the seedliugshave been a month 

 or five weeks in the nursery bed, the largest of them 

 should be removed carefully, taking special care not 

 to disturb the roots, ami planted iu the treuch, 

 " two iaches deeper iu the soil than they were in 

 the nursery bed," and nine iuches apart. After trans- 

 planting give a good soaking of water (tank or river 

 water is best where procurable). As the plants make 

 growth, they .';hould be earthed up by refilling the 

 trenches by degrees with soil which was originally 

 dug out. For an early crop, the trench should be 

 out in the open ; and for a later croj) in a shady 

 situation. If rivers are procurable, it is preferable 

 to the garden soil for earthing the celery. It will be 

 seen that the chief art of growing celery to perfect- 

 tion consists 'u rapid forcing by means of the richest 

 manure. 



Strawberries are well worth more attention than our 

 native gardeners give them. At the beginning of the 

 hot season this fruit very small and flavourless, finds 

 its way to the Calcutta market in considerable quan- 

 tities from the Patna district where it is grown by 

 the native market gardeners ; but none who have not 

 tried the effects of cultivation cau realise how vastly 

 this favourite fruit can be improved. Firminger's 

 plan, given iu his " ^Manual of (xardening," is the one 

 which should be followed; and for those who have 

 not his work at hand to refer to the following brief 

 abstract of his method is given: — Choose a piece of 

 ground well exposed to the sun, and dig holes in it six 

 inches deep, eight iuches wide, and one foot apart. 

 Fix the holes with a mixture of equal parts of old 

 now manure, leaf mould and garden soil ; and iu each 

 put down a strawberry plant. Water at the time of 

 planting and as often afterwards as the plant seem 

 to require it. The plants should be put down early in 

 October, and by February they will come into full 

 blo.ssom, and " when in blossom, the beds should be 

 watered every day from a rose watering pot." Un- 

 less this is done, the fruit frequently does not set, 

 and you get no crop. "When the fruit is ripening, it 

 should be protected from the ravages of birds by a 

 net. The strawberry requires daily watering during 

 its growth and bearing ; and in the hot season the 

 plants are sure to die uuless regularly watered. The 

 rains do not injure the plants. Care should be 

 taken to plant out the young growth, i.e., the new 

 plants formed by runners from the old plauts during 

 the rains, as the old plants seldom bear fruit the 

 secoud year. Strawberry plants are procurable from 

 the North West Provinces, and doubtless, if good seed 

 were procured from Home, superior varieties could be 

 introduced. The seedlings would not, however, bear 

 fruit the first year. The writer has by following the 

 above method, grown strawberries as large a round 

 as the top of a sherry glass, and of excellent flavour. 

 — Englishman. 



THE COLONIAL AND INDIAN EXHIBITION 



AT SOUTH KENSINGTON. 



Jamaica — coatinual. 

 Perfumery is represented by two or three esbibit.s, 

 which do not, however, include such a variety as 

 might have been expected from the number of plants 

 in the island capable of yielding essential oils and 

 perfumes. It is consequently interesting to Jearn 

 from the ofhcial catalogue that Colonel Talbot, of 

 Worthy Park Estate, is about to establish a flower 

 farm, and to extract perfumes, this being the first 

 attempt of the kind that has been made in the island. 

 The essential oils exhibited by Mr. Sahaarschmidt 

 include those of lemon, sweet and bitter oranges, 

 pimento berries and pimento leaf (oil of bay) ; also 

 spirituous perfumes derived from Bonplandia, Ca- 

 nella alba, red muskwood and rosewood. Pomades 

 made with tuberose and Jasmine flowers are also 

 shown by the same exhibitor. The essential oils 

 prepared by Mr, J, J, Bowery, the Government 



analytical chemist, comprise, in addition to the above, 

 the essential oils of JCuca/i/ptus i/lolndus, lemon grass, 

 Juni/ierns, Bermudiana, Critonea Dcdea, Iledyosmum 

 nutans and JliciJineria obovata. Ylang-ylaug fruits 

 are sho.vn, but no spicimeu of the oil. 



A specimen of aloes presenting the appearance of 

 inferior Curacoa aloes, rather than of Barbadoes aloes, 

 is shown by the Botanical Department. In this in- 

 stance, and in mai:y others throughout the Exhibi- 

 tion, it is evident that w.-vnt of attention to appear- 

 ance is one of tbe reasons that colonial products do 

 not satisfy the requirements of commerce. 



Large quills of cinchona bark are exhibited by the 

 Bjtanical Department aiul Dr. Heaven, including C. 

 officinalis, C. Ludyi-nana, C. succirnhra, a hybrid (G. 

 robasta.'), accompained by herbarium specimens of 

 these trees and of C micrantha, Calisai/a verde and 

 Calisai/a morada. 



The C. sncciruhra bark grown in Jamaica appears 

 to have quite a dift'erent character to that cultivated 

 in the East Indies, in not possessing the warty 

 character of the latter, which is seen also in the 

 South American G. succiruhra. According to Mr. D. 

 Morris, C. Calisaya was not rightly distinguished at 

 the Government plantations in .Tamicia until 1881, 

 being included under C. officinalis, to which it bearS 

 some resemblance in the shape of the leaf. 



Some very fine specimens of honey, both liquid 

 and solid, are exhibited, the former by Mr. 0. Gordon, 

 and the latter by Mr. J. W. Aikman ; both speci- 

 mens are of good colour and fine flavour. This Court 

 should not be left without noticing the beautiful 

 ornamental articles exhibited by the Women's Self- 

 Help Society, including baskets made of the luffa 

 fruits, and of various seeds yLeuca-na (jlaaca, Ahrns 

 precatorii's, Adtnautliera pavonina, and Coio: lachri/ma, 

 etc.). The articles made of lace bark {Laijetta lintearia), 

 and of the beautiful white tissue of the dagger plant 

 {Yucca aloifolia), which is even more elegant than 

 the celebrated rice paper of the Japanese, have been 

 much admired, and wou'd doubtless sell readily iu 

 this country. Probably the bright coloured seeds 

 would also find a ready market iu Roman Catholic 

 countries for rosaries- 



Trinidad. — The Botanical Gardens exhibit vegetable 

 ivory nuts, mace, nutmegs, nux vomica seeds, and 

 coca leaves. Nine varieties of tanning substances are 

 shown by Mr. F. J. Hill. Of these the dividivi pods 

 have been found to yie'd Go'OS per cent of tannin. 

 A remarkable product, labelled " Cedar gum, " is shown 

 by the Pvev. J. Morton in the form of long trans- 

 parent tears. When dissolved in water it makes an 

 enormous quantity of thick mucilage, deficient in 

 adhesiveness, but forming an excellent size, like 

 Japanese isinglass. It is probably obtained from the 

 bastard cedar (Guaznma tomcntosa), and seems worthy 

 of further examination. 



B.VKUADOEs— Several specimens of rock, recently dis- 

 covered on Ox ord Estate, St. Peter's Parish, and 

 stated to contai 1 nearly 70 per cent of phosphates, 

 may be s( en in this Court. A very interesting series 

 of specimens, illustrating how these phosphates are 

 fo! mtd in the cural rock, is shown by Mr. H. E. Thorne, 

 of the Antilles Manure Works. 



Iu the opinion of I^lr. George Hughes,* ihe deposit 

 of Aruba phosphate in the island of Barbadoes, which is 

 estimated to contain not less than 500,000 tone, has 

 been formed from a superincumbent layer of guano, 

 the carbonate of lime of the coral reef having been 

 changed into phosphate by the soluble phosphate 

 washed out of the guano by the rain, etc. The 

 guano ha.s, ho a ever, now di-appeared. The structure 

 of th'-i oial rock is seen to be perfectly retained, 

 although the chemical change that has taken place is 

 shown in the presence of phosphate of lime to the 

 extent of 76 per cent. The Sombrero phosphate from 

 Sombrero Island owes it origin to another cause, viz. 

 the direct marine deposit of bone, and another deposit 

 in the island of Barbuda to the excrement of bats in 

 the bottom of caves. These deposits form a valuable 



*Quart. Jouni. Geo!. Soc, Feb., 1885, p. 8. 



