344 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURiST, [HoV. 2, 188S. 



juice of the leaves is emetic, and is applied externally 

 to bad sores aud ulcers. 



Aarrud calami's ("Wada-kaha). — Used iu bowel com- 

 plaiuts in cbildern as a stomachic and carminative. 

 This ijlaut is the sweet flag, and is very widely dis- 

 tributed, being found not only on the banks of rivers 

 and other wet places in PIngland, but also in the 

 cooler parts of Europe, India, and North America. 

 All parts of the plant, particularly the rhizome, have 

 a strong aromatic and somewhat acrid taste, in con- 

 sequence of which it has been used iu European 

 practice as a stimulant and tonic, especiall in cases 

 of indigestion and ague. Candied, the rhizome forms 

 a well-known confection, and it is also used in per- 

 fumery. 



Acronychia laurifoJia (Ankinda). — The bark is con- 

 sidered a good remedy for obstinate ulcers and indolent 

 sores. The root, bark and leaves are applied to 

 dislocations. — Burgot/ne, 4' Co.'s Montldy Export Price i 

 Current. 



STEAY NOTES ON CACAO IN CEYLON. 



[From " Old Colonist."} 



My visit to Matale North greatly charmed and 

 interested me. Twelve years ago, there was not a 

 cacao plant in the district, now its cacao groves 

 are amc igst thefinest sights in the island, aud as S r 

 Henry Ward said : — " It is difdcult to decide where 

 t-^ere is so much of surpassing beauty." No longer 

 is c:.cao a mere experiment, but in North Matale 

 at least, it is assured, as much as any vegetable 

 product can be. I am only sorry there are not, 

 and never can be, 100 Kowdapelelas in Ceylon. 



I he.ve seen nothing of HclojJcUif, and believe 

 Boreas to be the only real enemy to cacao in good 

 soil ; as "K. B. T." long ago discovered. The lucky 

 proprietors of North Matale are getting an excellent 

 croi) this year, and as far as man can judge, ii; 

 is destined to go on rapidly increasing for many 

 years to come. WarriapoUa, also, is a fine picture, 

 nothing could exceed the luxuriance of its healthy 

 and heavy-laden cacao, nor the beamy of its well- 

 trimmed shade trees. Dear old Dumbara, of course, 

 Btill holds i^s own, and will probably this year 

 give double the crop it has ever before given. 



New Products in ^Jexico. — Among the most valu- 

 able fruits yielded by the Mexican flora is the vanilla, 

 which has been in use in the country for ages as a 

 flavouring for chocolate, the national beverage. Its 

 use was made known in Europe by the Spaniards, 

 and until comparatively recent times Mexico was the | 

 only source of supply of the friut. Mauritius and 

 other parts have since taken the lead in supiilying 

 the Loudon market, but the true Mexican vanilla 

 still remains the best of any. In the country itself 

 it is cultivated more for home use than for export, 

 the centres of the trade being the districts of Mis- 

 cuitla and Papantla. A wild variety of vanilla is found 

 ftbundautily iu the virgin forests of the republic, but 

 its fruits, uoi beiug aromatic, are not gathered. The 

 value of the vanilla exports iu 1881 is declared at 

 83,000/. Efforts are now beiug made by a German 

 agriculturist in Mexico, Dr. Hugo Fick, of Cordoba, 

 to grow the cinchona tree iu that locality, one of 

 the most favourable parts for the cultivation of new 

 plants- According to official statements there were 

 in 1884, 15,000 cinchona plants flourishing in Cordoba, 

 and it is hoped that ni a few years Mexico will be 

 able to dtrive large profits from the export of cinchoiia. 

 Commander Maury, who visited the country in 1808, 

 was the first to suggest the introduction of the 

 cinchona in Mexico, but his advice was not acted 

 upou until several years later. Careful observations 

 have shown that the climate aud temperature of largo 

 tracts of Mexican territory correspond exactly with 

 that of the Bolivian provinces where the cinchoaas 

 fiourisU most In^wiiutlf, •-CJiemiii and Uruygist, 



PiPERiNE !>■ AouE. — Some cases of refractory in- 

 termittent fever, in which, after the failure of quinine, 

 piperine has been administered with advantage, are 

 reported by Dr. C. 8. Taylor) Brit. Med. yo2»-«.,Sept. 

 4, p. 449). In one case, immediately on the accession 

 of an attack three grains of piperine were given 

 every hour until eighteen grains had been taken, and 

 on the following day, when the intermission was com- 

 plete, the same dose was given every three hours. 

 Dr. Taylor remarks also that piperine does not pro- 

 duce the unpleasant symptoms in the head that some- 

 times follow the use of (luinine,— P/iarwacecijcrt^ 

 Journol. 



Extract of Pojieoranate Koot Bark.— The official 

 preparation of pomegranate bark is open to objection 

 on account of its nauseousness, and three j'ears since 

 Mr. Siebold, in order to obviate this, suggested a pro- 

 cess for removing the astringent principles {Pharm. 

 Journ., [3], xiv., 396). "With a similar object Dr. von 

 Schroeder has recommended the use of an extract free 

 from tannic acid, but containing all the alkaloid of 

 the bark {Pharm. Zeit., Sept 18. p. 556). The extract 

 is p-epared by treating a decoction of the bark with 

 milk of lime to remove the tannic acid, filtering, 

 neutralizing the filtrate exactly with sulphuric acid, 

 evaporating it on a water-bath almost to dryness, 

 treating the residue with 70 per cent alcohol, and 

 then driving off the alcohol from the extract obtained. 

 The product is described as nearly entirely crystalline, 

 and soluble in water with a slight turbidity. The 

 yield is about one gram of extract from twenty grams 

 of bark. In order to retard as much as possible the 

 absorijtion of the pelletierine, which is present in the 

 extract as a sulphate, it is recommended to add to 

 this quantity one or two grams of tannic acid to con- 

 vert the alkaloid into the difficulty soluble tannate. 

 — Pharmaceutical Journal. 



Vegetable Products in Tunis and Tripoli.— The 

 export of Esparto-grass or Alfa, as it is locally termed, 

 has been more active during the past year. This 

 valuable fibre, nine-tenths of which is shipped to the 

 United Kingdom for paper making, affords a live- 

 lihood to the Bedouin Arabs, who load their camels 

 with it and bring it a distance of 100 miles from the 

 interior. The Govermuent has not relieved it from 

 the oppressive duty which for the last nine years has 

 weighed upon it, amounting in the northern districts 

 of the Eegency to 12s. 6d. a ton, and to IT.^'. further 

 north at Susa. The largest shipments take place from 

 Sfax. The Alfa from Susa commands somewhat 

 higher prices than that farther south. The unusually 

 large quantity of the fibre which was exported from 

 the Eegency in 1831 was owing to a failure of the 

 grain crops in the south, which drove the Arabs to 

 Esparto plucking as the almost sole means of obtain- 

 ing a livelihood. In 1S83 the Arab tribes in the south 

 fled over the border to Tripoli to avoid the French, 

 and that year showed the lowest point to which 

 the export of this grass has sunk. In 1883 shipments 

 of Esparto began to be made from another little port to 

 the south of Sfax, called Skira, which would under ordin- 

 ary circumstances have found an exit at Sfax. Skira has 

 been selected as the port of exportation by the Franco- 

 English Esparto Company, which has' obtained a 

 concession to export that fibre from a cettrin district in- 

 land from Sfax, and which began its operation iu 1883. 

 From Tripoli it is stated that business iu E.sparto, 

 which had become very slack in 1884, had so far 

 recovered itself as again to be in the position it 

 occupied in more prosperous years. Notwithstanding 

 the low range of prices — 10*. to 15s. per ton below 

 the usual rates of the last two j'ears — the supply of 

 this fibre has not diminished, but flowed steadily into 

 market in even greater quantities than before. " The 

 quality of tho grass is better, as would appear from 

 the general satisfaction it has given in England ; and 

 it is anticipated that both the quality and quautitv 

 in 18S() will be above the average. Freights for Es. 

 parto kept low, ranging from Os. to lis. the ton for 

 hydraulic pressed bales, and from 16*', to 204-, foy 

 tUosc wechauicaUy pieHQi.—Gardemn' Chronicle, 



