440 



tME TRaiPiCAL AGRICULTURIST. 



AN. J, J 887. 



gives the total shipments of ground nuts, and ground 

 nut oil, and the approximate minimum and maxinuun 

 price per local candy of 529 lb. (English) for each 

 vear from 1875 to 1886 inclusive:— 



of both nuts and oil have greatly fallen since the first 

 report quotations were recorded. In 1879 the average 

 rate was 1120-12-0 per candy for nuts against 

 R17-8-0 for 1886, the fall being equal to 18 57 per cent ; 

 and for oil, in 1S77, R9O-8-0 per candy as compared 

 with R47 for the current year, ur 8948 per cent 

 less. It is evident from these facts that the largely 

 increased production has had the effect of lowering 

 prices, and, judging from the increased cultivation 

 year by yearj it would seem that the producer has 

 not suffered any material loss. Pondicherry has obtained 

 the lion's share of the ground nut trade ; for the 

 total exports from the whole of British India during 

 the three years ending 31st March 1886, amounted to 

 only 1,533,314 bags, while the shipments from Pondi- 

 cherry alone for the same period reached upwards of 

 2,250,000 of bags. It is shown also, by the accounts 

 published of the trade of British India, that the ex- 

 port of nuts during the three official years declined 

 from 534,716 bags in 1883-84 to 507,345 in 1884-85 and 

 491,753 in 1885-86 ; the fall being equal to 5 40 and 

 8'74 per cent, respectively, whereas, as we have al- 

 ready stated, the "^ shipments from the French port 

 for the same period increased by 39 and 64 per cent. 

 The statement below shows the freight engagements 

 (in sterling per ton of 20 cwt,) for Marseilles for the 

 last eight years, viz., from 1879 to 1886 inclusive:— 

 Highest. Lowest. Avge. Highest. Lowest Avge. 



1879 £3-5-0 £1-12-6 £2-4-6 1883 £3-0- £2-10-0 £2-13-9 



1880 3-7-0 2-15-0 3-2-91884 2-10-0 1-12-6 1-19 9 



1881 3-5-0 2-17-6 3-0-3;i885 2-10-0 1-10-0 1-17-9 



1882 3-2-6 2-17-6 3-0-6|lSS6 1-16-3 1-11-3 1-14-0 

 The French home prices have ruled very low 



throughout the season and notwithstanding the greatly 

 reduced rates of freights, shippers have never ceased 

 grumbling, even from the commencement of the year, 

 when the nuts were quoted at R14-0-0 per candy. 

 The trade is of vital importance to Pondicherry, 

 forming, as it does, nearly three-fourths of the total 

 exports of the port, and giving employment — apart 

 from the cultivation — to several thousand people. The 

 crop prospects for 1887 are excellent, far surpassing 

 any previous season, and the area planted is largely 

 in excess of last year's sowing. — Madras Mail. 



AtL vegetables, when cut, may be kept fresh by 

 putting the stalks into water. Servants generally 

 insist on immersing them, which favours decomposition. 

 Parsley, in particular, can seldom be guarded from 

 a watery grave. Carrots, turnips, and the like, if 

 placed in layers in a box of sand, will keep for many 

 weeks. — Indian Gardener. 



Cinchona. — A local contemporary announces that 

 the Government of Madras is apparently about 

 to withdraw, partially, from competition in the growth 

 of cinchona, and that at the request of the Director 

 of Cinchona Plantations, the Collecter of the Nilgiris 

 has been instructed to dispose of the Kalhati Gardens 

 by the end of the year. This is a step in the right 

 direction, and we hope before long all Government 

 Cinchona plantations will be dis])osed of, r^^taiuing only 

 such, if necessary, upon which it is intended to conduct 

 special exporiment»,-~/«rf!a?i AgriculUirisl' 



Ckment. — A French authority gives the follow- 

 ing recipe for transparent cement. The advantage 

 claimed is the absence of the slightest yellow tinge, 

 BO that the addition of the cement is imperceptible, 

 while it possesses an extreme degree of tenacity. 

 Mix in a well-stoppered bottle 10 drachms of choloro- 

 iform with 12^ drachms of non-vulcanized caoutchouc 

 n small pieces. The solutionis easily effected; when 

 finished, add 2h drachms of mastic, and let the whole 

 macerate from eight to ten days, but without iieat. 

 A perfectly white and very adhesive cement is thus 

 produced. —Indian Aijricvllurist. 



Root Haiks. — That the largest portion of the liquid 

 used by the growing plant makes its entrance through 

 the roots, from the soil, is a well-establishtd fact; 

 but those parts which are the most active in the 

 absorption of this food material in solution, were for 

 a long time not so clearly understood. By careful 

 experiments and microscopic investigation it is found 

 that the extreme tips of young roots are about the 

 only portion which take little or no part in this 

 work. A short distance back from the growiug points, 

 on nearly all growiug roots, may be seen with the 

 aid of a microscope a large number of minute slen- 

 der bodies extending out in all directions from the 

 surface of the root- These thread-like structures are 

 not inaptly called root hairs, and consist of sac-like 

 protuberances, as outgrowths from the epidermis or 

 surface cells of the root. With the naked eye they are 

 not easily seen, but their presence may be inferred 

 from the manner in which they cling to the particles 

 of the soil, when a young root is lifted carefully 

 from the earth in which it was growing. This power 

 which they have of fixing themselves to the grains 

 of earth is very great; so that, when a plant is taken, 

 violently from the soil, large portions of these deli- 

 cate hairs are broken from the roots and retain their 

 attachment to the soil. As the root grows along in 

 the earth new hairs are produced, while those be- 

 hind perish as the root becomes woody, and a dense, 

 non-absorbing, protecting epidermis is formed ; so 

 that the active life of a single hair is of short dura- 

 tion. The office of these hairs must have already sug- 

 gested itself to the reader. By means of these 

 prolongations the greater part of the absori)tion takes 

 place, though the newly-formed surface cells are also 

 active. — B. C. Halstead, in Gardeners' Monthl//. 



PoBOUs Carbon. — A report of a new system of 

 sewage in operation at Southampton, published in last 

 Saturday's Times, reveals the existence of a certain 

 mineral powder found in Devonshire and known as 

 porous carbon, which, according to the report, possesses 

 remarkable properties. This substance is said to be 

 rich in available iron, alumina, and carbon. By treat- 

 ment the metals are rendered soluble, and then the 

 mixture is a wonderful chemical precipitant. It is 

 mixed with the sewage in the proportion of 2^ to 3 

 grains per gallon, whereupon it at once destroys all 

 odour and precipitates and oxidises all solids and 

 organic matter. The effluent water is rendered almost 

 perfectly pure, while the i?recjpitate " mixed with 

 road scrapings " finds a ready sale to farmers, who 

 fetch itj away for manure, and pay 2;.. 6d. per ton for 

 it. If this be true, the sewage problem is solved, and 

 for the solution we are indebted to Mr. W. B, G, 

 Bennett, engineer, and Mr. Arthur Angell, chemist. 

 The virtues of the porous carbon are not limited to 

 its use as a precipitant. " In addition to its chemical 

 properties," says the Tunes, "it possesses the mecha- 

 nical property of adding to the lightness and poro- 

 sity of the soil by reason of the presence of the 

 particles of earthy carbon." There are several points 

 of mystery about that sentence, but the chief one 

 lies in the main statement. With only two or three 

 grains of the carbon to the gallon of sludge there 

 would only be about half an ounce to the ton of 

 manure ; unless this acts after the manner of a fer- 

 ment, which would be very wonderful indeed, it is 

 difficult to understand how much a minute i)ropor- 

 tion cau have much mechanical inHueuco on the 

 millions of tons of earth which form the syil of » 

 t«o-acre ' held,— Chemist and Druggist, 



