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THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [Nov. i, 1886. 



Of the very extens-ive collcctiou of fibres, which 

 has attracted a considerable amount of attention 

 amongst specialists, it would be difficult to speak 

 without a very extended notice ; it will, there- 

 fore, sutiice to draw attention to the Glenrock com- 

 pany's exhibits of China-grass (Bi.uhmeria nivea), and 

 fabrics made of the fibre, showing what can be done 

 with this useful Nettle. The leaves of Puya fibre 

 from Maoutia Puya, will also attract attention, in- 

 dicating as it does what might prove to be an excellent 

 paper material, if not a textile. In India it is used 

 for making cloths and fishing-nets. Close to this are 

 fine samples of Bhabar-grass (PoUinia eriopoda), a 

 very strong gi'ass, much used for ropes and cordage. 

 Dr. Watt says it is " largely used in the tract bet- 

 ween the Jumna and the Sarda, and is particularly 

 abundant in the Garwhall Himalaya." 



Amongst products interesting to the pharmacist, 

 some fine samples of Cinchona bark will attract 

 attention, especially one of Cinchona Ledgeriana, 

 from a seven years' old plant, and some stems with 

 moss-renewed bark. 



Dye products, and the method of their manufacture 

 or preparation, are well illustrated in the Indian 

 Court. Amongst the products themselves the 

 samples of Annatto (Bixa Oreilana) will be noticed 

 for the brightness of the colour, and the large 

 size of the seeds. This product is well represented 

 amongst the Ceylon and West Indian exhibits, and 

 is referred to under those heads. Here are also large 

 samples of Tissoo or Pulas flowers (Buttea frondosa), 

 of a bright fresh yellow colour, used for dyeing yel- 

 low and orangered. The tree is one of those which 

 yield a variety of products. The root-bark gives a 

 good fibre used for coarse cordage, also for making 

 slow matches, and for caulking the seams of boats. 

 The gum or resin, under the name of Bengal Kino, 

 is astringent, and is used in medicine, while the seeds 

 are used as a purgative and vermifuge, and the leaves 

 are employed as plates. Here are pods of Acacia 

 concinna, which contain a quantity of saponaceous 

 matter, and are used as soap, especially for washing 

 the hair. The leaves of this species are eaten on 

 account of the acid flavour they possess. Of indigo 

 the exhibits are both good and numerous, and the 

 model of an indigo factory will not fail to attract 

 the attention of all visitors, so accurate is it in detail 

 and so perfect in finish. The model shows the pro- 

 cess of steeping the plants and prt-t-sing them in the 

 vats or divisions, from which the water runs by a 

 kind of pan into a large receptacle below, in which 

 the workmen stand up to their middles in indigo, 

 stirring it with long poles, and in a room behind is 

 seen wire or wicKer frames on which the cakes of 

 indigo are placed to dry. The model gives a very 

 good idea of the preparation of an important article 

 of commerce about which but little is popularly known. 



The other models illustrating Indian industries are 

 oil pressing. Sugar-cane pressing, and the preparation 

 of sugar from the Date Palm, in which the collector 

 of the toddy is represented in the crown of leaves 

 drawing the juice from the freshly cut spathe. 



In the matter of direct forest produce, such as 

 timbers and Bamboos, many excellent examples are 

 shown. The timber trophy or screen at the entrance 

 of the Economic Court ie composed of small speci- 

 mens of a great variety of useful timbers, the most 

 striking specimens, however- are the large planks and 

 blocks of Padonk (Pterocarpus indicus), of which also 

 an enormous squared tiuuk lies outside in the adjoin- 

 ing promenade. The Padonk, or as it is sometimes 

 called Andaman Ked-wood, is a lofty tree of Burmah 

 and the Andaman Islands. The wood h fairly hard, 

 even grained, and easily worked, and is well known 

 for its deep red colour, which darkens or becomes 

 brown on exposure to the light. It is a very useful 

 v?ood, and is much used for furniture as well as for 

 cabinet work, carriage wheels, and similar purposes 

 in India. 



Another wood that will no doubt attract consider- 

 able attention amongst cabinet makers, is the Anda- 

 fuan marble wood (Diospyros Kurzii), an evergreen, 

 tbc native Qi tb9 Audamau Islands- as its commpD 



name indicates. The wood is very hard, irregularly 

 blotched with black markings upon a greyish ground, 

 usually arranged in alternate streaks of grey and 

 black, but in the plank exhibited at Kensington, the 

 figuring resembles as near as possible what might be 

 effected by the casual upsetting of an ink-bottle, au 

 appearance not to be found in any other wood. The 

 smaller specimens of woods are too numerous and 

 too well-known to claim any special notice, notwith* 

 standing that many of them are of excellent quality, 

 both on the score of durability and for their fine mark- 

 ings or figure, and ought to be better known amongst 

 English hard wood dealers. 



In the matter of Bamboos, the well-known bridge 

 in the centre of the Court will be remembered as an 

 excellent illustration of what these gigantic grasses 

 can be applied to, besides which the numerous uses 

 to which they are put in India are well shown in 

 the couches, chairs, baskets, kc, which surround the 

 bridge, some excellent photographs of Bamboo bridges 

 spanning the Sutlej, are also shown in close proximity. 

 A stem of species of Calamus, a slender of climbing 

 Palm, often popularly confounded with the Bamboos, 

 is shown under the roof of the court, and reaches 

 almost its entire length. Thi.s, though a fine speci- 

 men, is not however, so long as one contained in the 

 No. 2 Museum at Kew, which measures over 400 feet, 

 or about the height of the dome of St. Paul's Cathedral. 

 These stems are very pliable, and some of the more 

 slender species are known as canes and are used when 

 split for the bottoms of chairs. Another Palm pro- 

 duct which will attract attention is a dug-out or canoe, 

 such as is ordinarily used in India, consisting of the 

 hollowed stem of a Palm from which one side has 

 been cut away and the central, cellular portion re- 

 moved. The bottom of the canoe has therefore no 

 approach to a keel, but is simply rounded— the shape 

 or from of the trunk. — .Tohx E. Jackson, Curator 

 Museums, Eoyal Gardens, Kew. — Gardeners' Chronicle'' 



Tea Ai)ulter.\t!On. — Mr. E. Collin contributes to 

 the August number of the Juurr. de Pharmacie d' 

 Anvcrs a valuable paper on the means of detecting 

 by the microscope the adulteration of tea and mate, 

 and also points out the features by which coca leaves 

 may be recognized under the microscope. The most 

 frequent adulterations of tea leaves, according to Mr. 

 Collin, are the leaves of EpUohium anf/u.itifoliuiit, 

 Frcuvinu'i excelsior, hiamhucus nigra, Lmirtts nohilis, 

 PrufU'S spinosa, fialij: a?/w, and Populus niyra, none of 

 which, however, present the numerous sclerench}-- 

 matous phytocysts which are present in the tea leaf. 

 The leaves of mate are said to be often adulterated 

 with those of Jlyrcia acris, which are easily recog- 

 nized by the presence of pellucid oil clots in the 

 leaves. — Pharmaceutical Jov.rnql. 



Prolonged VrrAiixY of Seed. — From the garden 

 at Glen Grant we have received two joints of the 

 pod of Entada scandens, The pods of this plant are 

 very large and woody, each joint containing a single 

 large seed. We have heard of these pods being 

 made to serve the purpose of door knockers in the 

 West Indies, and this u^e suggests another, viz., that 

 they might be used as rattles to keep the birds off 

 fruit trees. If we remember rightly, seeds of this 

 plant have been washed up in a germinating condition 

 ou our western coast- but this is of minor importance 

 as compared with the story told iu the followHng letter.— 

 " The enclosed are two Beans from the joint of a pod 

 2 feet iu length, and containing ten Beaus. This pod 

 wa.? brought home from India over forty years ago by 

 the late Dr. T.vylok; of Elgin. Two mouths ago I 

 put several of the Beans in a pot in our sto\ e, and 

 to my surprise two of them have germinated and 

 thrown up stalks which arc now over a foot in height. 

 The Beans have not been preserved in any special 

 way, so that under these circumstances and after so 

 lo ng u lapi-e of time it is strange to see vitality so 

 stronge in them. Perhaps you could tell me what 

 is the name of the plant from which the enclosed 

 has beeu takeu oflf.— GtEN GuANX."~C7«A(ic/i«r*"' Chron- 

 k'c. 



